Daniel L.K. Yamins '01 has noted the difference between Harvard and other colleges.

"You don't notice any noisy [Harvard]students. The nature of students here at Harvard is different than at schools like Stanford and Duke," Yamins says. "Students here drink behind closed doors--at final clubs, in their rooms."

Final club members and representatives of Sigma Chi, the largest campus fraternity, say they try to take precautions to ward off harassment and assault as result of drinking.

"At parties we work with a list so everyone at the party is either a member or on the list," says a final club member in Kirkland House. "We know to limit the people in attendance to those who we know and trust to not create problems."

"These parties are not ones where everyone is drunk and crazy. Many people stay sober," he adds.

Sigma Chi appoints "party monitors" to make sure the festivities do not get out of control.

"Among a number of other provisions, the policy involves limiting the number of male guests allowed at our parties to avoid such problems as fights, sexual assaults, excessive noise, property damage," says Michael G. Housman '01, the president of Sigma Chi. "There are always at least two party monitors at the parties who are responsible for looking after the well-being of the party-goers and ensuring that there are no harmful behavior at the party itself."