Volunteers are needed to help make this year's Slope Day, which will take place Friday, May 1, as safe as possible.
This annual celebration of the end of classes draws thousands of revelers to Libe Slope each spring. In an effort to encourage responsible partying, discourage alcohol and drug use, assist the ill and injured, pick up trash and give out information, Supporting Our Students (SOS) has put out a call for Cornell students, staff and faculty to sign up for two-hour shifts as Slope Day volunteers. More than 300 people are needed to monitor activities on the slope and help make Slope Day a safer event.
"We're especially encouraging faculty to volunteer as Slope Day monitors," said Catherine Holmes, associate dean of students. "A strong faculty presence will encourage students to have fun socializing, rather than engage in destructive behavior."
Staff members also are needed. "I want to encourage staff to volunteer their time at Slope Day and their supervisors to permit this wherever possible," said Mary George Opperman, associate vice president for human resources. "Our presence on the slope will help ensure that the celebration is a safe one for our students. I look forward to seeing many staff volunteers on the slope."
Last year, 9,000 people congregated on the slope. Twenty-two people were transported to Gannett Health Center or Cayuga Medical Center with injuries or alcohol-related conditions, compared to 32 in 1996, and four people were arrested, compared to 24 in 1996.
"The number of people injured and arrested last year was down from the previous year, due largely to the number of volunteers we had on the slope," Holmes said. "We hope to get the numbers down even more this year."
Volunteers may sign up by completing the application that is available online at http://www.activities.cornell.edu/slopeday/. Applications also are available in the Day Hall Lobby, at Willard Straight Hall 401, WSH 520 and the Information Desk at the Straight, the Cornell Tradition Office (107 Day Hall), the Public Service Center (202 Barnes Hall) and the Community Service Centers in RPCC, Noyes, Donlon, Dickson, South Balch, Risley, Cascadilla, Sheldon Court and Ecology House.
Volunteers are asked to attend one of the following training sessions:
The training session will take no more than 45 minutes and covers information about Slope Day preparation and services, volunteer responsibilities and how to work with CU Police and CU EMS personnel.
All volunteers are given colorful T-shirts to wear during their two-hour shifts, which are theirs to keep.
For more information, e-mail slope_day@cornell.edu or call the Student Activities Office at 255-4311.
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