An ordinance proposed by the Campus-Community Coalition for Change to the Baton Rouge Metro Council will attempt to ban drink specials from the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 10 a.m. Rarely have college students faced such a broad-based assault on their rights to choose how much they drink.
The regulations, which have been promoted to us and the student body as an attempt to moderate the problem of drunken driving, bar fights and other related crime, are insulting to the intelligence of our student body.
The editorial board met with the CCCC on Monday night, where we listened to their ideas. They claim their actions are not directed at students, that they are only seeking to attack bar owners for “irresponsible” business practices. These business practices, including larger drinks, free beer nights, multiple drinks for a single price and “all you can drink” specials are, like it or not, staples for many college students.
The issue at hand, the ordinance, is a wrong-headed, paternalistic attempt, not at controlling out-of-control bar owners making money off of students unable to control themselves, as the CCCC claims, but is an attempt to regulate the lives of University students when they leave campus. This attempt at reassuming control over the outside deeds of University students strikes us as reminiscent of the old-style attempts to regulate behavior by setting up evening curfews and banning students from participating in activities deemed inappropriate by the administration.
The truth of the matter is that students, even if the new restrictions are passed, will still continue to drink, many of them at the same bars. Our fear that the problem drinkers, who originally could have been watched by bar security as well as the large amount of police who patrol areas such as the Tigerland bars, may well seek to drink their fill at other areas outside the scope of protection of a structured social setting.
Drinking cheap beer and hard liquor at someone else’s apartment then getting into a car to either drive home, or simply to resupply, is more of a threat, in our opinion, than someone in the same state who can get a cab, take the late night bus or simply find a friend to take them home.
We don’t disagree with the goals of the CCCC to lower the levels of drunken crime, and we support students in their attempts to live healthier lifestyles. We believe the CCCC seems to be unable to fathom that students ought to have the choice as to what they will do to their bodies once they are off campus.
In sum, we oppose this attempt at legislating morality on students from an organization whose student involvement is nonexistent to minimal at best. According to the CCCC their ordinance already has the support of Councilman Mike Walker, but they are unsure when they will propose it at a council meeting. When they do, we hope students, whether they drink or not, will stand up for their liberties and to send a message that our rights, freedoms and traditions are non-negotiable.
Lastly, during our meeting, the CCCC invited students to join their organization, which, despite the campus part of their name, includes virtually no student members. We agree. Students should join in order to give them a real idea of what students actually think, to give them real people beyond the data that they tout.
Let us all work together to defeat this wrong-headed response to real problems.