Tomorrow’s vote could change the weekend habits of LSU students for years to come. But whether it will change our actual social habits is questionable at best.
In October, the Campus Community Coalition for Change proposed an ordinance to the Metro Council that would make it illegal for bars to sell alcohol in high volume, for a discounted price, for free or as part of a drinking game after 8 p.m.
It was postponed until tomorrow by the East Baton Rouge Metro Council at the December meeting.
CCCC Director Nancy Matthews told The Daily Reveille in November that the purpose of proposing the law is to prevent underage and binge drinking, which she thinks is being encouraged by drink specials at bars.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Janey Dewey-Kollen said in a December Reveille story that 65 percent of LSU students who reported participating in drink specials reported driving afterward, calling the ordinance “a common sense solution to a public safety problem.”
I’m all for an effort that will reduce such incidents. I have never been in a serious accident, but I’ve had the unfortunate luck of watching multiple accidents unfold, including watching a car as it flipped upside down on Lakeshore Drive this past Saturday.
I can only imagine what a parent feels knowing they will have to bury their son because a fatal car accident came in the way of their drive from home.
Like most people, I am against binge drinking. No one can argue that crimes like drunken driving are not bad things, and I would be all for action that would stop binge drinking.
That’s why I am not for the ordinance.
The bar special is one of many short-sighted scapegoats for teen alcohol abuse, which leads to drunken driving, among other social ills, and those lobbying for the ordinance fail to realize that culture change will not happen with a law change.
While the more expensive mixed drinks would lead to less purchases in bars, purchases in grocery and liquor stores would increase drastically.
Either students will either drink more before going to bars and clubs, or house parties will become more popular.
While I don’t fit the familiar white frat boy mold of going out to take advantage of drink specials at Reggie’s and Tiger Bar multiple nights a week, I still see the culture of binge drinking.
As far as I’ve seen, the venues where black fraternities and sororities throw parties have never come close to charging as little as $1 for a rum and Coke, but I see the same amount of drunk people there as I have seen the few times I’ve been to Bogie’s.
Seatbelt usage laws, speed limits and other protective regulations are enforced because the government has a duty to protect its citizens who for whatever reason can’t or won’t protect themselves.
If advocates really want a better deterrent, a solution as simple as periodic alcohol checkpoints would get the job done. The students who drink responsibly and have a designated driver should not be punished.
But if the ban passes Wednesday, the students who can’t afford drinks without specials may not get their alcohol at the bar, but the habits will remain the same.
 
Walter is a print journalism senior. Contact him at [email protected]