POPULAR OPINION: Students fault alcohol plan

Many students said the University's alcohol plan will not work and decried a lack of consultation in the process. Last week, the administration sent a message to undergraduates: Alcohol abuse would no longer be tolerated. And now, after the first weekend under a policy which bars alcohol from all registered campus parties indefinitely, many outraged students have a message they'd like to send right back: Stay out of our social life and treat us like adults. The policy seems likely to affect the social lives of almost all undergraduates, and with Skimmer and Spring Fling on the horizon, students across campus are expressing their discontent with the actions of University President Judith Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi. "I absolutely think it's the most ridiculous thing on earth," College senior Scott Melker said of the new policies, which include a ban on alcohol service at registered undergraduate events and stricter enforcement of existing alcohol policies. "I feel worse for someone who's a freshman now," added Melker, a Tau Epsilon Phi brother. "I'm blessed to be getting out of this place." And while a group of student leaders is organizing a rally tomorrow at 3 p.m. to protest the changes in the campus alcohol policy, its focus is not on the decision administrators reached, but on how they got there. Although the rally's actual format has not yet been finalized, UA Vice Chairperson Michael Bassik emphasized that the rally is "not about alcohol. It's not about going dry. It's not about Michael Tobin." Instead, Bassik, a College sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau brother, said the rally is mainly to protest the administration's failure to consult the student body prior to making a decision of this magnitude. Tangible Change Committee Chairperson and College senior Samara Barend expressed a similar sentiment, writing in a statement that non-alcoholic activities, many of which the committee helped create, "were never intended as a replacement for the existing culture of campus life," and that "the solution lies in the active engagement of those most affected by these decisions -- students." Barend added, "We challenge the administration to begin an immediate dialogue with undergraduates to address these serious issues." The 26-year-old Tobin's alcohol-related death last weekend after a party at Phi Gamma Delta has made many students think that the University must act -- even if the partial alcohol ban was not the correct action. College senior Stephen Parks said he feels that "something needed to be done" but thinks that the new crack-down is the "wrong answer" and will have some "adverse effects" on the campus' social life. The University's new stance has been criticized by many as punishing everyone for the actions of just a few people. "There are so many organizations on this campus that have never, ever had a problem with the University in terms of alcohol," College senior and Sigma Chi brother Scott Glosserman said. Last night, Barchi insisted that the University's actions are "not punitive." "We are not interested in punishing anyone here," he said. "We are interested in provoking a campus-wide discussion about how to deal with the culture of alcohol abuse that's taken hold at Penn and campuses across the country." Still, Melker blamed the University for "making a political platform out of a really unfortunate accident." Other student leaders emphasized that judging from the many past events conducted safely, there isn't a drastic need to deal with the "culture" Barchi described. According to Senior Class President Sarah Gleit, a Phi Sigma Sigma sister, there were no alcohol-related incidents in 12 senior screamers in February, nor were there any citations for underage drinking given to students at Skimmer last year. "Students go out of the way to be responsible," Gleit said, adding that the "University made a foolish decision." Another common criticism has been that the ban will force drinking off-campus into venues that are much less monitored than fraternity parties. "[The policy] is encouraging freshmen to sit in their rooms with a bottle of vodka? and get excessively drunk and sick," Gleit said. According to Barchi, the University's first priority is always "the health and safety of our students," but he said that administrators remain confident that the "overwhelming majority of students behave in a responsible manner in regard to the use of alcohol."

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