Tiffany Bui, a Harvard University student, awoke to a glaring hospital light and a blood-alcohol content of .20; however, medical amnesty prevented her from being punished by her school for underage drinking.

Penn State students are only afforded leniency on a case-by-case basis, but University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) Legal Affairs is attempting to make a universal medical amnesty policy by the end of the semester.

Granting medical amnesty, a means of lessening the number of fatalities caused by alcohol poisoning, has become a national trend among colleges and universities, according to a December article in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Though Penn State is not a part of the trend, Matt Lachman, UPUA Legal Affairs deputy director of town affairs, said the organization is in negotiations with Judicial Affairs.

Penn State does not have a written medical amnesty program, said Karen Feldbaum, interim co-director of Judicial Affairs.

"The current process right now works so that if a student has a minor alcohol offense off campus, we don't charge them, but we do have an educational intervention," she said.

Most programs permit an underage student caught drinking off campus to be taken to the hospital without any disciplinary repercussions, according to The Chronicle. In most cases, students must attend an alcohol educational session.

UPUA Legal Affairs wants to provide amnesty for friends helping another person, as well as the endangered person. Judicial Affairs, while willing to grant amnesty to the friend, is not keen on granting amnesty to the alcohol-poisoned student, Lachman said.

"Any time you place putting punitive measures above seeking medical attention, you discourage students," Lachman said.

Penn State Police said the idea of medical amnesty creates a "dilemma" for students and administrators, as it has both positives and negatives.

Tyrone Parham, Penn State Police assistant director, said the lack of repercussions enables students to drink irresponsibly, rather than lessening students' fear of hospitals and alcohol-related fatalities.

"Right now, we see nothing in our community that people are reluctant to contact an ambulance because they are afraid of getting arrested," Parham said.

Linda LaSalle, a community health educator at University Health Services, said the ultimate objective is to not need these types of policies by increasing education.

LaSalle also pointed out the problems with amnesty programs.

"Any time you remove a sanction from illegal behavior, on some level, you encourage people to engage in that behavior," she said.

Deborah Lewis, the alcohol projects coordinator at Cornell University, helped create its 6-year-old medical amnesty program. At Cornell, students who are taken to the hospital for an alcohol-related incident must complete an alcohol education program.

"Students know that if someone is passed out and you can draw on them with a Sharpie, they probably need medical attention," she said.

Lewis said the students will learn a lesson despite university punishment.

"Just having to go to hospital for alcohol poisoning is certainly a repercussion," she said.