Letters to the Editor

Alcohol initiative

Seven months and approximately $75,000 later, the University alcohol initiative has helped fund activities for dozens of student groups and has provided entertainment for hundreds of undergraduates. But we wonder about the level of correlation between the trustees' generous funding and the initiative's ultimate goal — to reduce binge drinking on campus.

Though this funding has allowed many financially strained student organizations to host activities, these alternative events — which usually take place on Thursday and Saturday nights — often do more to complement the 'Street' than to compete with it. Because funds are concentrated on student-sponsored and student-organized events, the implementation of the initiative and its ability to create substantive change in students' drinking habits falls largely on the students themselves. While student involvement is essential for planning student-friendly events like the Jon Stewart show, without clearer goals from the trustees, the initiative's funding may appear to some a hollow gesture and a less-than-concerted effort to combat abusive drinking.

These nonalcoholic events may be well-funded and fairly frequent, but they are not necessarily more effective in curbing the culture of binge drinking on campus. Adding activities to the social scene is not the same as altering it; concerts and shows serve typically as mere precursors to nights out at the 'Street.'

The trustees' sponsorship of alternative social options is not the only component of the alcohol initiative. To curb binge drinking, the trustees also implemented more severe penalties for alcohol-related citations. While the new penalties may have curtailed the number of room parties and open container violations — from 80 incidents last year to 41 — these numbers may not truly reflect a reduction in binge drinking. Despite the threat of increased penalties, the weekend festivities at Prospect Avenue have not been dramatically changed by the initiative.

Though it is too early to tell what the long-term impact of the initiative will be, we recognize that it has already made positive strides toward diversifying weekend social options for students. However, the initiative has yet to move us significantly closer to an atmosphere of reduced binge drinking. Before the resumption of school next fall, the trustees might want to reexamine their broad-based goal — to end the culture of binge drinking — and consider providing students and administrators with more specific guidelines and goals.