Alcohol policy also frustrates administration

Refuting the popular rumor that it is being excessively hard on students this year, with regards to discipline, the Tufts administration argued that they are doing all they can - within the boundaries of safety and legality.

"The feeling that our offices closed down most of the parties during Homecoming weekend is simply inaccurate," Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said.

"Speculation that the administration is seeking to kill the social life here is absolutely not true," TUPD Captain Mark Keith affirmed.

Only two parties were actually closed or cancelled over the weekend. The two alcohol-free gatherings shut down were the Pan-African Alliance party and the International Club party, Reitman said.

The reason for the closings, according to Reitman, was the simple fact that the number of students at each party would have been impossible to control. School regulations dictate that a certain number of TUPD officers must be on-call for each party in order to be safe. Numbers were stretched too thin during the weekend due to Homecoming.

According to Keith, there was a total of only seven TUPD officers to patrol the entire campus from 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Saturday night.

President of the International Club Duane Goodin seemed to be understanding. "We went through the proper steps and spoke with the relevant administrators. However, it was dependent on whether the TUPD could provide us with a detail. Sadly, they were pretty booked over the Homecoming weekend and couldn't help us out," he said.

Pan African Alliance President Ernest Bihm was also disappointed, "It was upsetting, considering the fact that it was Homecoming. We really wanted to have party."

"We had the majority of our officers committed to Homecoming," Reitman said. He noted that neither the Pan-African Alliance nor the International Club had given the TUPD the mandatory ten-day advance notice of the party. "Even if they had, larger events connected directly to Homecoming absorbed most of our police force anyway," Reitman said.

Because the Pan-African Alliance party was to be a citywide event, there would have been a large presence of non-Tufts students.

"There must always be several officers on stand-by during a party, especially when there is an influx of students who would have no real allegiance to Tufts," Reitman said.

Bihm understood the necessity for security at the party but was frustrated by the lack of a clear policy. "We registered the party in advance; however, there is no definite registration policy for an organization to refer to when they want to do something."

According to Keith, the administration is dedicated to meeting the complicated social needs of its students. Resource 25, the online events calendar currently under construction, should streamline the party application process for students, he said.

Reitman attributed the increased amount of off-campus parties closed this year to the shift in the off-campus student population. "The number of seniors who live on-campus has increased from 26% to 71% in the last three years. Meanwhile, only 10% of juniors are living on-campus this year," Reitman said.

This, he claimed, has caused a spike in loud parties -- and corresponding increase in Somerville residents calling in to complain. "While seniors are thinking of theses and impending careers, juniors have a different, more social focus," he said.

Keith said that the majority of parties closed by the TUPD during the year occur at off-campus houses. "Most complaints from Somerville residents are phoned in after midnight," he said.

The problem arises when the sleeping routines of town residents clashes with those of students. "Most residents get up early and go to bed early... which is not the case with students," Keith said.

Due to noise ordinances, the TUPD has few alternatives when residents call in to complain. "Depending on the size of the party, we'll give the students a warning and give suggestions, like shutting windows and lowering music volume," Keith said. Outside of that, the officers are forced to close down parties.

The administration must obey local and federal law when it comes to parties, noise issues and alcohol violations both on and off campus. Nevertheless, Reitman said, "I don't like the 21 year old drinking law. While it may work to prevent drunk driving accidents, it's simply terrible for college campuses."

"Ideally, the drinking age on campus would be 18. If this were the case, we could create what we feel is the ideal situation -- make alcohol an accompaniment to an event, not the event itself," he said.

"Instead of teaching responsible drinking, we're forced to treat it as an illegal activity, which is something most of us disagree with," Reitman said.

While the administration may share these sentiments, state and national law forces all schools into a prohibition-like state. "Students stay in to get drunk, which leads to all sorts of problems," Reitman said.

He jokingly added "I wish Tufts could secede from the Union." Until that day, however, Tufts has no choice but to follow the regulations imposed on it. "RA's cannot afford to ignore school policy, and our police offers cannot ignore the law. That's simple fact," Reitman said.

Reitman stressed that despite the problems surrounding the alcohol policies that students and the administration both face, there is still plenty to do on campus.

"When people complain that there's nothing to do at Tufts, that's not what they mean. They're saying that there's no place to drink or get drunk," Reitman said.

"Simply look at Tuftslife.com on any given evening, and there are always around twenty activities to choose from," he added.

Although everyone would appreciate a change in alcohol policy, for the time being at least, it is "unrealistic for people to expect anything else," Reitman said.

Although right now, large on-campus spaces for parties are limited, Phase 3 of the Mayer Campus Center renovation will include the addition of a large, multi-function room.

"We'll keep programming as many events as possible," Reitman vowed. He foresees continued problems, though. Although students will see an increase of more large events, like this year's Fall Ball, Reitman fears that "without alcohol, the novelty of these events will wear out, and people won't like it."

Nevertheless, the next big event to hit Tufts will be the Naked Quad Run. "Conversations have already begun this week about how the quad run will continue while being safe at the same time," Reitman said.