The college is working with the Franklin County District Attorney's office to set up a meeting with state officials to discuss prohibiting the use of alcohol in some areas, college spokesman Ken Aaron said Thursday.
The Department of Environmental Conservation, which oversees recreation on some of the 14,200-acre campus, will be included in the talks, Aaron said.
"We also plan to have a DEC representative speak to students about outdoor recreation safety at this summer's orientation," he said.
The school's actions follow the drownings of two students last month, and three deaths before that.
Sean Cornell, 20, and Lee Walker, 18, died when their canoes overturned late at night just off shore from the campus. State police said drinking alcohol contributed to their deaths. In February 2005, Quinnipiac University student Kristine Guest, 20, and Paul Smith's student Josh Rau, 20, died when their snowmobile crashed on campus land.
Rau had a blood alcohol level of 0.14 at the time. Another student, Stephen Welch, 19, died in January 2005 in an alcohol-related car crash near campus.
Guest's father, Stephen Guest of West Hartford, Conn., sued the school last year, claiming that the failure of the college to properly enforce alcohol policies led to the wrongful death of his daughter.
"One tragedy is one tragedy too many," said Aaron. "We want nothing more than to try to prevent these things from occurring."
Paul Smith's College, located 124 miles north of Albany, enrolls about 850 students.
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