11 hospitalized after Rice drinking party

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HOUSTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Eleven Rice University college students were taken to a Texas hospital for alcohol poisoning following a Halloween party, school officials said.

The "Night of Decadence" party -- a campus tradition since the 1970s that Playboy magazine once called one of the 10 best college parties in the country -- is a university-sanctioned event that serves alcohol to students 21 and older. Seeing a few students overdo it isn't uncommon at the annual affair, said John Hutchison, dean of undergraduates, but 11 is more than normal.

"That's actually quite high compared to previous years," he said. "Normally there's just a handful, only three or four."

All 11 students were treated and released Sunday morning, after the party, the Houston Chronicle reported.