The Griffin: volume 56, issue 10 - Nov. 22, 1985

              VOLUME LVI, NUMBER 10 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1985 Campus Prepares for Rise in Drinking Age Karen Gunderman '87 and Paul Guszkowski '86 enjoy the Rathskellar's food and drink offerings. The Rat will implement a table system beginning Dec. 1 to better monitor the sale of alcohol. Phoio by Beth H,,rh Miller cited statistics from a respected national survey to illustrate his belief that Canisius students on the whole are responsible drinkers. In the national survey, 15 percent of all drinkers have drinking problems. In the Western New York area, the number rose to 27 percent. At Canisius, the study showed that only 11 percent of all drinking students had problems related to overconsumption of alcohol. Traditionally, colleges rank very highly in the survey. "We have a very responsible student population, obove average in Ho\*s i nt& 11 ige nt I y a Icohtol is consumed," Miller added. Lee Fassl, director of student activities, called the policy "a straightforward and strong statement about enforcing the 21 year old drinking age." In order for a campus club to have alcohol at an event, a program agreement must be drawn up by the club and approved by Fassl. "There will be quite a few non-alcoholic events," he said. If the vast majority of the participants in the event are under the legal age, alcohol will not be served," explained Fassl. "When alcohol is served, the sponsoring club's leaders have to control underage drinking," said Fassl, who added that the alcohol policy will have to be more strictly enforced. Miller explained that the wording of the new legislation only makes it illegal for someone underage to purchase alcohol. Underage people can, according to the letter of the law, possess and consume alcohol. It is against the law for persons over 21 to purchase alcohol and distribute it to persons under 21. According to Dr. Thomas E. Miller, dean of students and chairman of the committee, the new proposals "insist on responsible drinking." "Our challenge was to design a policy that respected the new law and yet did not interfere with established responsible student social patterns on alcohol," Miller said. by Jim Greco The minimum age for the purchase of alcohol in New York State will be raised from 19 to 21 years of age on Dec. 1. This will have a wide ranging impact of the College's alcohol policies. In response to the new legislation, the College formed an ad-hoc committee to study its effect on the campus. The panel, composed of six students and four administrators, formulated a policy proposal specifying how the college should deal with the new law. "We are here to satisfy students and we have to be flexible with what they want. Everything is contingent," he said. Table service for beer will be instituted at the College Rathskellar in order to better monitor distribution. This means that a Rathskellar employee will deliver the alcohol to the individual tables to check that those consuming the alcohol are of legal age. (cont 'd on page 5) "The new law will probably have an effect, but it doesn't have to. What we do depends on what happens at the first mixer after December" said Buscemi. "We will try something different," he added. This may include a variety of non-alcoholic drinks and sponsoring better talent at the mixers, he stated. At events like mixers there will be a designated alcohol area from which persons of legal age cannot remove alcohol. At mixers, the upstairs of the Pa! i set no Pa \silliort vtsill fco >>»«=»— — gal age. All others will be restricted to the ground level. The Spring quad party will have an experimental beer tent. According to Angelo Buscemi '87, Campus Programming Board chairman, the effect the new law will have on mixers will depend on how students react to it. The question becomes what this new policy means for the students. Susan Moyer, assistant director of student affairs and advisor to CPB, said she was not aware of the top shelf liquor plans before the semi-formal. She said Buscemi informed her of the arrangements and of the fact some students were complaining about them as she left the semi-formal at 12:30 a.m. "He (Buscemi) told me that every year the CPB executive board chips in and gets top shelf for themselves . . . Since it had been done before, I assumed it was fine," said Moyer. According to Moyer, Buscemi came into school on Nov. 2 and showed her the money that he was going to deposit to pay for the bottles. Icont'd on page 4) by Vince Doyle Campus Programming Board Chairman Angelo Buscemi 87, responding to recent questions of a Fall semi-formal expense of $289 for "top shelf" liquor available only to CPB members, downplayed the matter Tuesday, calling it "not that big of a deal." The issue evolved when a letter to the editor, published in the Nov. 15 issue of the The Griffin, stated that CPB had used student tax funds from its budget to pay for bottles of high quality liquor which were made available only to members of the CPB executive board. Gregory Owczarczak '86, the author, claimed in the letter that the bartender at the semi-formal would give the liquor only to CPB executive board members when they used a password at the bar. Owczarczak said the use of student tax money for such a purpose "must not be allowed to continue. Responding to the letter, Buscemi told The Griffin that it was true that the top shelf liquor was purchased and was not available to all of the students, but said that it had always been planned that those who were permitted to drink it would pay for it. Buscemi displayed a Canisius receipt indicating that a check for $300 had been placed in the CPB budget and said that the money had been collected from those people who had access to the liquor. The receipt was dated Nov. 4, the Monday following the Friday semi-formal. He went on to say the higher quality liquor was available to any CPB member who had worked on the mixer. In all, Buscemi said there were about 12 CPB members and their dates drinking the bottles in question. "It was just a reward for the hard work that those people put into the semi-formal," said Buscemi. A copy of a bill from the Buffalo Hilton Hotel obtained by The Griffin shows expenses for two bottles of Tangueray, two bottles of Absolut vodka, one-tenth of a bottle of Meyer's Rum and four-tenths of a bottle of Dewers Scotch charged to Canisius and Kathleen James '87, CPB special events chairman. The bill is dated Nov. 1, the date of the semi-formal. According to Buscemi, this entire bill was paid from the student tax money in CPB's budget, but the $289 for the top shelf liquor was put back in the CPB budget on Nov. 4 by those people who had drank it. "We talked about doing this before the semi-formal . . . and decided that as long as the money was paid it would be okay," said Buscemi. Chairman Downplays CPU Liquor Expense According to Puma, there were two unidentified Canisius dormitory students who attempted to enter the mixer, despite the fact that they had been suspended by the Resident Hall Association Judicial Board from attending campus social functions for one month, due to previous infractions. The two had their names taken by public safety and referred to Dr. Thomas M. Miller, dean of students:' he added In terms of the amount of damage that was incurred, Puma said that the bulb of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the pavilion was the only damaged property that he could recall. Mr. Robert L. Lowman, director of the physicial plant, said that in addition to the damaged chandelier, a paper towel dispenser in the men's room was broken. He said that it will cost about $45 to be replaced. Brawls, Damage Mar Hawaiian Mixer "Most of the fights were onepunch fights," said Lt. Ron Lavigne, who was working at the mixer. "The best thing to do is to break it up and get them out of there," by Kevin Saville Despite the fact that there were several alcohol-related brawls and minor damages in the Palisano Pavilion at last Friday's Hawaiian Mixer, tonight's "Swamp Party" will go on as planned, according to Samuel G. Puma, director of public safety. Puma told The Griffin that there was on arrest as a result of the fighting, though the person was not a Canisius student. The instigator had been involved in two earlier fights with Canisius students and had been ejected from theparty each time, according to Puma. The third time that the suspect entered the pavilion, he was arrested by public safety officers after being involved in yet another fight. After last weekend's incident, there was talk on campus that the difficulties might jeopardize the planning of future parties. Puma dispelled the myths however, saying, "Cancelling future mixers was never considered." For tonight's event, sponsored by Sigma Phi Epsilon, Puma plans on staffing eight public safety officers, one more than usual, in addition to the officers that will be on normal patrol around the campus. "I think that there, will be more awareness on the part of the people organizing the party," said Puma. Due to the quantity of the debris that was spewn throughout the pavilion after the party, Lowman said that the maintenance staff was required to work ten hours of overtime, four more than they normally would after a mixer. 'There was a lot of extra work," said Lowman. "Everything was a mess." % of Students Over 21 12/1 WuM .5/86, GRIFF IIS GRAPHICS ($1 THE GRIFFIN JS<'fvnii» The College Community