The 19 year old drinking age that went into effect last December has had little effect on the student body as a whole because of the sluggish enforcement by university officials, but vandalism is apparently on the way down because of less drinking.
"The policies put into place tend to meet educational standards," Associate Vice-President for Student Affairs and Chairman of the Alcohol Review Board (ARB) Anthony Lorenzetti said, with the enforcement of the drinking law being placed secondary.
The first part of the implementation of the new law was a success because most students were aware of the restrictions for 18 year olds drinking alcohol, according to Lorenzetti.
Students sponsoring a party must make sure that guests under 19 years of age do not bring alcohol to the party, or receive any, Associate Director of University Housing Garry Soehner said. This new policy came about, according to Soehner, because "some people under age 19 go to these parties."
The "biggest" policy change, according to Housing Director Madison Boyce, is that "space has to be reserved by those people holding the party." Boyce added that students holding a party are responsible, not the university, for making sure that people under 19 do not get alcohol during the party. Noting the questionable trustworthiness of some students, Lorenzetti acknowledged "that some people will attempt to subvert the rules."
While many believe the new policies are successful in combating alcohol abuse, Lorenzetti said that there still is a considerable amount of alcohol abuse on campus.
During floor parties, the drinking age is enforced by Resident Advisors, according to Soehner. Richmond Quadrangle Resident Director David Guy said that Resident Advisors have no choice but to follow the new drinking policies when it comes to alcohol use in the dormitories.
Another Resident Advisor, however, said that while the new policies were being followed by the RAs, he felt that there was a limit to how far this enforcement could go.
There may be a little too much responsibility being placed on the shoulders of the advisors while the administration has done nothing of any major importance toward the implementation of the new law, according to another RA.
"The enforcement of the new drinking age is a housing problem and not a Public Safety problem," Public Safety Director Lee Griffin said. He added that nothing has necessitated Public Safety taking any direct action against underage drinking within the university.
Griffin noted a significant drop in vandalism on campus, which he attributed to the drinking law. There has been a 19.6 percent drop in vandalism since the beginning of the new law on Dec. 4 of last year.
The ARB, which oversees campus use of alcohol, has done "little," according to Lorenzetti, since the inception of the new law. He said that "at the present time, nothing is being done." The ARB is responsible, along with the Faculty Student Association, for requesting additional university liquor licenses.
ARB will be discussing "follow-up implementation" of the new policies in an upcoming meeting next month, according to Lorenzetti. "The whole intent was to examine the complexities of the new law" and to familiarize students with its new mechanics, he said.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
