PANTHER POST

Wave on the Rocks

University attempts to pass new alcohol policy

by Connor SIMPSON Managing Editor

Big changes could be on the horizon for The Wave. Next Thursday, September 24th, the UPEI Board of Governors are voting on a proposed Alcohol Safety Policy that could severely alter the way the bar cur- rently runs.

The two most talked about changes in the policy are the implementation of a sign-in policy at the door as well as changing the closing time of the bar from 2 AM to 1:45 AM.

The policy doesn’t just affect The Wave, it is meant to be an official line the uni- verstiy can use to govern all alcohol related events. The policy has been an ongoing project the university has been working toward for roughly three years now. The policy covers events at The Wave, events put on by Chartwell’s where alcohol is being served, and alcohol consumption within resi- dence.

Another change in the policy would see the aboli- tion of pub crawl advertis- ing. Societies and clubs would not be able to directly advertise their end of year pub crawls, which serve as huge sources of income for most of the clubs.

Tamara Leary, acting Di- rector of Student Services, was a member of the com-

mittee to draft the Alcohol Safety Policy. When asked about the sign in policy, Leary said that UPEI, “is responsible for the safety of the bar and the safety of our students.”

Leary said that UPEI views the sign-in policy as “a way to regulate and con- trol who exactly is attending our events and to ensure the safety of our students from any outside dangers.”

When asked about the change to the closing time of the bar, Leary said the change “is meant to en- sure that, by the time 2AM comes, patrons of the bar are outside and well on their way home.” The effective- ness of last call was not discussed in the interview. The time of 1:45AM was - a bargained time between the policy’s committee and UPEI Student Union presi- dent, Timothy Cullen.

“We understand what they’re hoping to achieve,” says Cullen, who was elected to office last year. “But on an individual, case- by-case basis, the Student Union is more than pre- pared to work to try to make drinking on campus as safe as possible, but as far as this alcohol policy goes, we are completely opposed to it, and we dislike the univer- sity forcing it upon us.”

Part of Tim’s problem with the policy stems from a

document that the commit- tee was using while drafting the policy, the committee used a document that stated that compared the Wave

to a collection of different maritime bars.

The document compared the security of each univer- sity, and had the bar listed as needing to call an outside police force to The Wave two to three times per week, with every other University listed at one or two times a month, or rarely, if ever.

Cullen took it upon him- self to contact the Deputy Police Chief, Richard Collins, who wrote him a letter stating that the Char- lottetown Police were called to the Wave nine times in 2007, a low four times in 2008, and only five times in 2009. Of those numbers, only two of those events could be “considered seri- ous in nature, i.e assaults.” The other calls were for a variety of things, including traffic violations or Liquor Act violations. The numbers between the two don’t add up.

When asked about the chart and the numbers, Leary had never seen them before. She didn’t know where the committee had gotten their report. Leary cited that she had just returned from a five month vacation, and has been ab- sent during the negotiations

September 21, 2009

that have happened in the past few months.

“We’re worried that if we make students feel unwelcome, they’ll take their business elsewhere,” said Cullen. “We’ve risen in popu- larity as far as a location for students to have a good time in the last little while, and we’d hate to see that be reversed. “