APAC report a step forward, still flawed

2/14/13 6:00pm

 

The Alcohol Policy Advisory Committee recently made public its recommendations on changes to Rice's alcohol policy and though we do not agree with all of the recommendations made, the Thresher was pleased to see the amount of thought put into the recommendations as well as the degree of student involvement apparent in their development. 

The Thresher supports the inclusion of an under-21 liquor ban as part of the recommendations made by the committee. Placing a negative emphasis on the consumption of hard alcohol is an essential step in the process of changing the university's alcohol culture. 

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The key to an effective alcohol policy is consistency and a student body which understands that policy. The Thresher hopes that, whether or not changes are made to the policy, the administration will work with student government to ensure all students are educated about the policy and how it will be enforced - and that the administration and student government then stick to that enforcement plan. This will require both support for college chief justices and increased respect for and knowledge about the court systems. 

Some of the recommendations made by the committee seemed arbitrarily chosen, while others lacked enough specificity. One example of this is the recommendation that alcohol permitted on campus be confined to beer, wine, champagne and premade alcoholic drinks with an alcohol content below 22 percent. It is unclear to the Thresher why the 22 percent figure was selected, and this figure seems fairly high considering that the previous point recommends that all punches and mixed drinks made with liquor be prohibited at private gatherings which include students under 21. On the other hand, the Thresher would have liked to have seen specific recommendations on the amount of alcohol allowed for a private gathering based on the size of the gathering. 

The Thresher stands by its prior recommendation (Jan. 18, 2013) that a new space designation, for collective private spaces, be created to deal with unique spaces at colleges which are not student bedrooms or suite common rooms but which also are not as public as the college's commons. 

The Thresher fully supports the committee's recommendation to enhance alcohol education for all undergraduate students. However, the committee's recommendations fail to directly address one of the major issues with Rice's current undergraduate drinking culture: students gathering in small groups to pregame the "official" party pregame. The recommendations will not prevent students from hosting fewer than five other students without the burden of registration, and the 22 percent ceiling on alcohol content is too high to reasonably expect it to effectively keep students from being able to drink to excess. While making students more aware of the effects of alcohol is an undeniably necessary step, for some students, additional education will not fully address the issue of students drinking too much. The Thresher hopes any changes ultimately made to the university's alcohol policy will take this into account while keeping in mind that the large majority of Rice students drink responsibly. 

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