Alcohol on Shryock steps invites trouble.

On Dec. 5, the Carbondale city council may consider again allowing alcohol at the Sunset Concert series. These concerts were marred last year by numerous arrests for underage drinking and public urination at both Turley Park and at the Shryock auditorium steps. Regardless what action the city council takes, the University should prohibit public consumption of alcohol on campus during these concerts. the reasons are clear.

Why incur the liability?

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Universities are increasingly being called to answer for their alcohol policies. this past summer, the University of Rhode Island was held responsible for the 1990 rape of a URI freshman at a fraternity party where alcohol was being served. The student was awarded $750,000 by the jury hearing that case. Universities, perceived as having deep pockets, are natural targets for such litigation.

Allowing alcohol on the Shryock steps during the Sunset Concerts is courting with disaster. All it would take is one drunk driver, or one student to be accosted by an inebriated concert-goer for the lawsuits to begin. A consistent policy of no alcohol at University sponsored events provides a strong first line of defense against this kind of liability exposure.

Why put innocent student at risk?

A recent study of the Harvard school of public health found that 87 percent of college students suffered form insults to sexual assault that were caused by excessive drinking by others. By allowing alcohol at the Sunset Concerts, the University puts its student at risk. Innocent, law-abiding students, who are just out to enjoy the concert are more likely to be accosted or harassed by individuals whose inhibitions have been lowered by the effects of alcohol consumption. Given the problems and arrests of the past, why put innocent students at risk?

Alcohol is a factor in one out of five college dropouts and the average college student spends more money on booze than books, consuming a staggering 1.1 billion cans of beer annually. To be sure, summer concerts represent a wonderful opportunity to bring the University and Carbondale together. Let the Shryock steps be considered a drug and alcohol free zone.

pastor, University Baptist Church