Wilkeson Pub regulars who hit the Ellicott bar looking for fun, food and drink may become the lookees, if a Psychology Department experiment gets approval.
According to Psychology Professor Norman Solkoff the test concentrates on the drinking behavior of Pub patrons. "No one has bothered to look at the environment of drinkers," he said. "It should be a useful contribution."
During the testing period, currently slated for two-hour blocks on six consecutive Wednesday nights, changes will be made in Pub lighting, music levels and liquor bottle placement. Experimenters will note how each factor affects consumption levels.
Solkoff stressed that no student's privacy will be violated during the experiments, claiming that "this is not spying." People will be identified in the report by letters—classes according to race, sex, weight, and height.
The Alcohol Review Board, a University organization concerned with liquor control on-campus, discussed psychology experiments in the last semester. The plan, however, was met with little support, or discussion, and was quietly dropped.
During Friday's presentation of the proposal in front of the Faculty Student Association (FSA) by Assistant Psychology Professor David Perkins, some student representatives objected to the experiment. Student Association (SA) President Tim Sheehan explained that UB Law student Marc Ganz took exception with the "ethical questions" raised about patron's rights.
Perkins countered this argument by pointing out that any psychology experiment is under "constant review" by an Ethics Board of the Department, and by another University-wide review committee.
Two nays
SA Treasurer Alan Nathan added a second dissenting vote against the proposal. His objections centered around fears that students who are aware that they are being observed will act differently, invalidating the test results. The preliminary proposal eventually passed 7-2.
But an agreement reached prior to the vote stipulates that the trial is limited by FSA, which "requires that Food Service (the agency directly responsible for Pub operation) has the final say over the experiment, " Sheehan reported.
Coordinator of Psychology Department Undergraduate Studies Janet Mather, who is associated with the Department's Ethics Review Board, explained that the exact limitations of the test depend on the final proposal, as yet unsubmitted. Both New York State and the American Psychology Association (APA) list experiment restrictions, and they "have to be approved by the University Ethics committee, " she said. But a trial might be considered a field experiment, which would have a different set of restrictions.
The usual psychology experiments, advertised by campus-wide flyers, require a signed statement by the participant, since he will be directly acted upon during the research. If the Pub action involves only observation, --"which in no way bothers people"—no statements are required, according to Mather.
Biased results
But Nathan reported that the Psychology Department has to inform students in the Pub of the experiment, although he believes that will "bias the results."
Inter-Residence Council (IRC) President Greg Smith, who also serves on the UB Alcohol Review Board, revealed, "I don't know if I like the idea" of taking part in the Pub trials. The leader of the dormitory students felt that the proposal was "almost too controlled" in its intents, but pointed out that the scenario could be a "drawing card for people to come down to the Pub." He revealed that, "unless there is a particular outrage about it," he "couldn't see anything against it from IRC's point of view."
Pub manger Irwin Wolckok predicted that the experiment will have "a bad effect" on the bar's operation. He is critical of plans to alter the lights and music at Wilkeson, since "the atmosphere is very important" to the Pub's operation, and "if you screw around with it, it can't help business."
An average of 300 people go to the Ellicott Complex establishment on Wednesday nights, a slow night according to Wolckok. But Solkoff picked a mid-week evening because he believes conditions "parallel City bars."
Any information that comes out of the Pub experiment will be collected into a paper, to be written by Solkoff, Perkins and the Director of the local Research Institute of Alcoholism, Ben Jones.
So far SA has "no official stance" on the experiment Sheehan reported, although "as long as it is kept in confines, there is no problem," with the student organization. "FSA still has to look at the final plans," he asserted, but "if there are not ethical, moral, or legal considerations, we will instruct our representatives to vote for it."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
