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Do you agree with Kansas University’s decision not to sell beer in the student union?
Asked at Jefferson's Restaurant, 743 Mass. on August 13, 2005
“No. Beer is good, and bowling and beer go hand in hand.”
“Yes, because you don’t want students going to class drunk. I’m an instructor, too, and I don’t want my students drinking on campus.”
“No. I think it would be a great source of revenue for the university, especially on game days.”
“Yes. I just think that it’s an educational establishment, and it’s not appropriate to sell beer there.”
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Comments
lunacydetector 7 years, 10 months ago
do you think KU would've allowed beer sales if it was shown to be profitable? i wonder how many kegs they went through when they used to sell beer - i bet not very many.
could that've been the real reason to not sell beer? of course not, what am i thinking.
penguin 7 years, 10 months ago
imagine that KU doesn't listen to a student led proposal...is this something new?
Oh well given the strange pricing policy of some products in the Union, I'm sure the Wheel and the Crossing would still be cheaper than the Union. Also the pizza at the Wheel is much better...so even more reason not to stay at the Union.
Also just because there is beer in the Union, it does not mean everyone will go to class loaded. KSU and Colorado sell beer on their campuses....oh well just have to keep going to the Wheel.
gccs14r 7 years, 10 months ago
With our uptight attitudes about alcohol and sex, I'm surprised that we Americans don't asphyxiate. We'll let five-year-olds watch cartoon characters bludgeon each other, but heaven forbid that we let young adults make decisions about their own bodies, especially those young adults upon whom have been conferred the right to vote and the right to pledge themselves to kill people for a living.
The French edited "The A-Team" for content. Our government blows a gasket over an errant nipple and underage tipple. Guess who I think is more enlightened.
ms_canada 7 years, 10 months ago
When the heck do you guys sleep?
thebiekers 7 years, 10 months ago
The fact that a sophomore knows that beer and bowling go hand in hand is a good reason not to have it. KU and Lawrence already turn the other way all the time when it comes to underage drinking, drinking and driving, and noise complaints.
I have been a student at KU for 5 years. In my first years in the dorms I went to some parties and witnessed some pretty awful things. When a party I was at got broken up by the police I saw a cop literally shove my friend toward his car when my friend was underage, drunk, and in no way capable of driving. The officers could have cared less. I've had to hold friends hands while they cried the morning after drinking realizing that they slept with someone they didn't even know.
Until the students can prove that they are responsible enough to handle it and the police show they are responsible enough to enforce related laws, the campus at least needs to stay dry (not that the dorms are anyway... I did more drinking when I was in the dorms and underaged then I ever have now that I'm older and living on my own.)
I never had a single drinking experience that I couldn't have lived without. In fact, if it hadn't been for peer pressure to drink the two years I lived in the dorms, I wouldn't be starting my 6th year as an undergrad. A lot of kids coming to school don't know how to show control yet. I experienced it in myself and saw it happen to countless others. Don't make it even harder to resist temptation.
Not to mention... a lot of kids got in trouble for pot. Yet my friend who was a pothead in the dorms had a very high GPA, kept all her scholarships, and is doing graduate work in Europe now. Not saying anything... just food for thought about which substances we say are evil in this country and which we allow without second thought....
newsreader 7 years, 10 months ago
Extreme_Makeover;
Since you have no idea what you are talking about, the difference between 3.2 beer and 5.0 beer is very small as one is measured by weight and one by volume. The difference, actually, turns out to only be about 1 beer in a 30 pack.
linux_chick 7 years, 10 months ago
I don't know about this. We're adults here and don't need mommies and daddies to impose their moral standards on us anymore. We can vote and sign up to die for our countries... but we can't be trusted around 3.2 beer.
If KU wants to take a moral stand against drinking, that's fine. It seems inconsistent at best, then to allow beer for football tailgating.
Bowling and 3.2 beer shouldn't be such a big deal, in my opinion.
beatrice 7 years, 10 months ago
Hey, e_m: What do American beers and having sex in a canoe have in common?
They are both f#@%ing close to water.
newsreader: You fail to point out the other major difference between 3.2 beer and 5.0 beer -- a thing we humans like to call taste. Of course, I prefer the local brew Ad Astra and the british brew Youngs.
DaREEKKU 7 years, 10 months ago
What if I don't want to go to class sober? Isn't that my personal decision. I mean, holy hell who wants to sit through a gen ed class sober anyway? On a more serious note, I believe it should be my personal decision whether I drink or not and not the University whom I am paying good money to to be ordered around and have my financial aid totally messed up (never bitter though). If you want students to act like adults, then treat us all like adults.
beatrice 7 years, 10 months ago
Great story e_m! It is just this type of event that makes travel, especially international travel, such a wonderful experience. My knowledge of the French language is shaky at best, with my Italian and Spanish even worse, so I guess for a comfort level I still prefer to go to England when visiting Europe. Despite the hype Paris seems to enjoy, London is my favorite city in the world. The remnants of the empire has populated that city with people from all over the globe like no other place I know. It also has a LOT of theaters, and not just the movie kind. : )
l_eustacy 7 years, 10 months ago
We should sell beer everywhere. My first good beer drunk was in a college union...I was 16. It was beautiful. I puked over the roof balcony of the cafeteria, to the horror of everyone eating breakfast and watching through the all-glass side of the cafeteria
We should have beer.
We need to reinstate the draft and make America strong and the world safe.
Then we need to use nukes in the mideast, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Afganistan, parts of Pakistan,Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia (especially mecca). We need to deport everyone from those countries before we nuke them first though.
Bring back the crusades!
As for Ms Sheehan, germ warfare should get rid of her. We don't have to kill her, just sprinkle her with Lyme ridden ticks while she sleeps.
ms_canada 7 years, 10 months ago
Have visited Jolly old England several times. First time my sis and I went to the theatre there we saw Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, which at that time had been playing continually for 39 years. Not a typo. 39 years. We also went to see Cats, but you know what I liked it better when I saw it here in Calgary. I liked the girl who played Grizabella the Glamour Cat better. As far as beer drinking goes, not too much of a drinker myself, but sis and I always ate pub grub. Way cheaper than restaurants. They have such a relaxed, laid back way of drinking there. If the pub gets a little crowded, no matter, they just spill out into the street and stand around, mug in hand. One pub we went into in York was quite strange. We walked in to enquire about supper, were told they did not serve on Sat. It was unually quiet for a pub, looked around and everyone was speaking with sign lanquage. A pub full of deaf mutes. Neat. Love Enland and Scotland
beatrice 7 years, 10 months ago
But of course, theatREs. On stage in London, there are always the finest actors, too. There isn't the division there as there is here between Hollywood and New York, so you can see people like Maggie Smith and Judy Dench on stage on any given night. Fabulous.
The pub grub - yum. Fish and chips, where you have one big piece of fish, chips, usually served with a huge helping of green peas.
The one thing I have never been brave enough to do in England, however, is drive. I always leave that up to the locals. Talk about scary roundabouts!
Oh, and on today's topic, I don't think it is that big of a deal if the university chooses not to sell beer. Since most undergraduate students are still under the drinking age of 21, there becomes a liability factor of making sure only those old enough are given access, and that they aren't slipping it to the youngsters. Besides, there are plenty of other opportunities elsewhere.
l_eustacy 7 years, 10 months ago
e_m How did you know?
English & European roundabouts have one advantage, the average car is smaller and the average roundabout is larger. uh oh, I got serious for a moment. Sorry.
beatrice 7 years, 10 months ago
e_m: once again, you made me laugh!
omb: A friend once told me of a microbrewery in Houston that she liked called Saint Arnold (I googled to get the name correct). They have a wheat beer on the menu, so if you haven't been there your assignment is to check it out and then report back. However, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. Texas isn't exactly known for its beer -- Lone Star and Shiner. Yuck. Not that I want to mess with Texas, but all y'all can drink it, but I'll pass, thank you.
Fangorn 7 years, 10 months ago
Everyone who complains that KU isn't letting them drink should remember all the places in and around that they can drink. All they're saying is they don't want to sell beer in the Union.
OMB: Could you meet someone halfway in, say, OKC? (That's just a guess. I don't know exactly where "halfway" is.) And with the price of gasoline, how much beer would we need to exchange to make it worth the expense? There should be some way to ship bottles of non-flammable liquid. We just have to find out what it is. That, or put "Reading Material" on the outside and ship it at the book rate.
JacqueB 7 years, 9 months ago
WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo for the college. Guess that is why "they" are the college. Some of the more intelligent forms of life have noticed how much the younger people can not handle alcohol. So----time to get rid of it in the Union. What I dont understand is-------why is it that some people can not attend or enjoy a function or outting without alcohol. I was always under the impression that might mean someone is an alcoholic. I imagine that these same people are the ones that can not just have a beer or drink-----must have at least a few or more. Guess my thought is----all you alcoholiccs need help. I am tired of meeting you people everywhere when you are way past the point of any intelligent life form.
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