NOD arrests, EMS calls decrease

By Vinny Singh     10/30/08 7:00pm

Once notorious for its drunken antics and the numbers of students it sent to the hospital, Wiess College's annual Night of Decadence, which took place Saturday evening, had few incidents this year - even fewer than last year's NOD. Only one patient was transported to the hospital, and Rice Emergency Medical Services responded to 15 emergency calls while on stand-by at NOD, head of REMS Michael Pandya said.

"Our EMTs were very well prepared and organized thanks to the planning of our Special Events Lieutenant Emberlynn Liu," Pandya, a Sid Richardson College junior, said.

Wiess Social Becky Leven said the only disturbance that occurred during NOD was a malicious fire alarm pull at Wiess.

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The Rice University Police Department did not make any arrests, compared to two arrests last year. RUPD handed out six University Court referrals to students who were asked to leave the party. RUPD also issued a criminal trespass warning to a non- Rice student who attended the party, Captain Dianna Marshall said.

"NOD was fairly well-controlled this year," Marshall said. "Student security did a good job."

Around 1,200 students attended NOD this year, up from about 1,000 last year, Wiess Social Brett Wakefield said.

"There were more people than last year," Leven said. "It was super safe this year, though. We would like to thank the gazillion whose collaboration helped make this a grand success."

Leven said she and Wakefield began planning for NOD early this year.

"It was a bunch of meetings with different authorities: RUPD, REMS, the administration, food sponsors like Mission Burrito and Domino's Pizza," Leven said.

Leven and Wakefield made several changes to NOD this year, roping in professional food companies to provide burritos and pizza to the students and holding a costume contest. After a final catwalk, Baker College senior Barron Stone was declared the winner. His costume as Michael Phelps earned him $75. Brown College senior Paul Tucker won second place and $25 for his costume of Austin Powers, accompanied by three Fembots.

Wakefield said they took new precautions when decorating to avoid unnecessary injury.

"Instead of people dancing on tables and falling down and getting hurt, we had them dance on elevated stands fixed with poles for dancing," Wakefield said.

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