College student dies after drinking party

EVANSTON, Ill., June 12 (UPI) -- A freshman at Northwestern University in Illinois died after apparently drinking an excessive amount of alcohol at a party in his dorm, police said.

Authorities pronounced Matthew S. Sunshine, 19, of Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., dead Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

"This unfortunate death serves as a tragic example of the dangers of excessive alcohol assumption. This phenomenon occurs on college campuses nationwide ... Nevertheless, it is devastating to lose a member of our community in this manner," university officials wrote in a letter to the Northwestern community.

Sunshine's friends said they monitored him Monday night after helping him back to his room when the party was over. He was found unresponsive when someone checked on him Tuesday before noon, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

University spokesman Al Cubbage told the Chicago Tribune the school was investigating the death.