Spring Break
EDITORIAL: Beer garden policy woes
Editorial | 4/8/08
Posted online at 2:50 AM EST on 4/8/08
After the loosening of school alcohol policies at last year's Springfest, the University decided to reinstate the beer garden for the 2008 incarnation of the popular student event.
Whereas last year's Springfest policy saw the handing out of bracelets to of-age students upon entrance, allowing them to mingle freely with their underage friends, the beer garden sequesters drinkers in a small space where they must remain until they have finished their beverages.
One look at the beer garden last Sunday revealed the error of this decision. Seemingly penalized for their desire to drink at a school event, students of the legal drinking age were sequestered in a small space far from the concert while they finished their low quality beer. A party zone it was not.
Though people complained on the Justice Web site about last year's lack of "openness," citing the fencing-in of the entire festival as a mood-killer, these people clearly have not frequented many music festivals. Main entrances where IDs are checked and bags are searched are standard fare at most events of this nature and allow everyone to mix as they choose. Though Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes cited the re-evaluation of the legal risks of last year's Springfest as cause for the return of the beer garden, the school is in fact taking no more risk than any other similarly styled event around the country.
The truth of the matter is that the festival is not far from the safety of students' rooms, and they will drink before the show if they so choose. If the school is really that concerned about underage drinking at the show, perhaps the ad ministration should use a form of legal status identification that isn't as easy to detach and transfer to an underage friend, as were last year's wristbands.
A stamp of some sort would prove more trustworthy to those serving the alcohol. There is simply no reason to divide the student body in such a way at events that are meant to encourage campus solidarity and common experience.
Whereas last year's Springfest policy saw the handing out of bracelets to of-age students upon entrance, allowing them to mingle freely with their underage friends, the beer garden sequesters drinkers in a small space where they must remain until they have finished their beverages.
One look at the beer garden last Sunday revealed the error of this decision. Seemingly penalized for their desire to drink at a school event, students of the legal drinking age were sequestered in a small space far from the concert while they finished their low quality beer. A party zone it was not.
Though people complained on the Justice Web site about last year's lack of "openness," citing the fencing-in of the entire festival as a mood-killer, these people clearly have not frequented many music festivals. Main entrances where IDs are checked and bags are searched are standard fare at most events of this nature and allow everyone to mix as they choose. Though Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes cited the re-evaluation of the legal risks of last year's Springfest as cause for the return of the beer garden, the school is in fact taking no more risk than any other similarly styled event around the country.
The truth of the matter is that the festival is not far from the safety of students' rooms, and they will drink before the show if they so choose. If the school is really that concerned about underage drinking at the show, perhaps the ad ministration should use a form of legal status identification that isn't as easy to detach and transfer to an underage friend, as were last year's wristbands.
A stamp of some sort would prove more trustworthy to those serving the alcohol. There is simply no reason to divide the student body in such a way at events that are meant to encourage campus solidarity and common experience.
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