Tickets weigh in on alcohol

The IU Student Association elections are looming. Next week students will weigh in on who they think will do the best job. In the meantime, the five tickets -- College, Connect, Kirkwood, Vote for Pedro and What about Bobby? -- discuss a different campaign issue each day this week with the IDS.\nDrinking is part and parcel of student parties, off-campus bars and clubs. But after the fun is over, students are faced with deciding the best way to get home without getting hurt or in trouble with police or the University. \nCollege presidential-hopeful Shane Merriweather said his ticket's approach to off-campus drinking will prioritize students' safety. College supports dollar cabs, which current Crimson executives say will be in place before Little 500. The dollar cab system is funded by IUSA and other donors like local bar Bluebird. The idea would allow students possessing a coupon to pay a dollar for a cab ride anywhere on campus. \n"We want to institute dollar cabs so people do not walk home drunk," Merriweather said. \nVote for Pedro congressional secretary candidate Courtney Thom worked with Crimson as director of student services to lay the foundation for dollar cabs over the past year. She said her ticket also will support the dollar cab system, and if everything goes well with the cabs' trial run before Little 500, she will be able to build on what she began last year.\nThe only ticket who expressed opposition to the dollar cabs is Kirkwood, which called the system inconvenient and part of the fat within the IUSA budget that can be cut easily. Vice president of administration candidate Jim Hoff even called the plan "disastrous" and said that if elected, his ticket would drop the system and the idea.\nOn-campus drinking might provide students who live there with the ability to avoid the drunken transportation issue entirely, but only if IUSA tickets can convince the University administration to re-examine its policy and change its rules. On-campus drinking is currently allowed only in Eigenmann and Willkie on all 21-year-old floors. \nSteps to allow students living on-campus to drink in their residence halls should be examined, said Merriweather.\n"Our on-campus alcohol policies embrace IU's status as a damp campus," he said. "We want to ensure students who are of legal age and live on campus the ability to drink in their residence hall." \nThe Connect ticket holds an interest in on-campus drinking rules, as several executive candidates live on campus, and presidential-hopeful John Palmer currently serves as president of the Residence Halls Association. Still, Connect vice president of administration candidate Ami Holthouse said her ticket will not make a push for changing the drinking rules for on-campus housing.\n"It would be a falsehood to promise (students) will be able to drink on campus," she said. \nGreek houses also are considered on-campus housing, but their rules regarding drinking are dictated not only by the University but also by national organization rules. Connect, Kirkwood and Vote for Pedro all support a new initiative presented by the Interfraternity Council that will allow men's fraternities that are nationally considered "wet" to bring third-party liquor vendors into fraternities. Only 21-year-old fraternity members will be allowed to drink through the use of a ticket system. \nHolthouse said although her ticket supports the policy, it will take years before the system is put in place.\n"It is idealistic, though I don't know if it's realistic within our term," she said. "We have no intention of promising a wet campus. We will work with (IFC and Panhellenic Association) to support the rules they've already set up." \nHolthouse said she also knows the policy would only affect a small number of students. Because of national organization rules, only about half of the fraternities on campus and no women's sorority chapters will be allowed to partake in the "bring your own beer" rule. \n"It's not going to solve the (drinking) problem," Holthouse said.\nThe Kirkwood ticket supports IFC's push for the policy but emphasized the importance of communication between the administration, students and police. Each side usually has a different perspective, said John Connell, who is running for vice president of congress. \n"The best thing we can do is facilitate conversation and dialogue between IU students and IUPD," he said. "If you talk to students you get one story, if you talk to police officers you get another story. (We need) a better understanding of where they're coming from and where we're coming from."\nKirkwood and Vote for Pedro stressed their interest in informing the student body about legal issues such as avoiding public intoxication charges, particularly during Little 500 week.\nWhat about Bobby?'s presidential candidate Eric Wolok said he believes students are uninformed about public intoxication and probable cause.\n"Public intoxication is not clear in the laws. It is not stated to an exact level," he said. "The limit is at the officer's discretion. We need to figure out the exact legal limit."\nTo address the issue of public intoxication charges during Little 500, Vote for Pedro will review every citation issued during that weekend to see if there was a universal system used by the police, presidential hopeful Alex Shortle said. \nThe tickets know they cannot change the drinking age, but each hopes to make progress with those weilding the power over student drinking practices. When current IUSA administration Crimson ran last year, it also planned to relax the campus alcohol policy and to pursue changes that would allow 21-year-old students to drink in greek houses. The ticket did not make the advances it said it hoped to during last year's elections, and this year's tickets' campaign promises show a continued interest in the same issues. \nIf they are able to, perhaps IUSA history will be made.\n-- Contact Staff Writers Colleen Corley at ccorley@indiana.edu and Eric Tash at etash@indiana.edu.