Programming Board has taken various steps in an attempt to make this year's Winter Bash a safer, less alcohol'minus;sodden student event. However, several of the changes for Winter Bash 2010 - now known as Break the Ice - compromise the event's role as a safe, fun night for all Tufts students.
Break the Ice marks the first time that one of Tufts' major student events has charged for tickets, and last semester's Fall Ball was the first time tickets were required at all. Winter Bash last year required only that students show up at the door on the night of the event with their student IDs. Requiring that students get a ticket beforehand is a measure that reasonably seeks to regulate attendance and make the event more organized, and while the long lines of last semester served as deterrents for some students, the event was still widely accessible. Charging for tickets, however, unfairly targets those students who are on a tight budget.
Break the Ice cannot fairly be called an event for all Tufts students. Charging $10 for a night out dancing is enough to be prohibitively expensive for some students, given the free alternatives available for partying on campus. Programming Board is estimating that attendance will be more than 1,000 people fewer than at last year's Winter Bash. Break the Ice does not feel like the all'minus;inclusive gathering that it was when tickets were free.
An even more potentially troubling change for Break the Ice has been to move the event off'minus;campus. Students will take shuttle buses from campus to the Sheraton Boston Hotel for the event. Former Tufts Community Union Senate President Duncan Pickard has called the move off campus 'prudent' with regards to 'security concerns.' But it is hard to see how transporting thousands of Tufts students off campus to a location in the heart of downtown Boston is a safer choice than keeping students on campus where the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) can keep a close watch on the event.
Last year's Winter Bash was marred by drinking'minus;related problems like public urination and harassment of volunteers. Spring Fling was declared a 'mass'minus;casualty incident,' as over 30 students called Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS), and more than 10 were transported to local hospitals.
Given this precedent, it is reasonable to believe that drunkenness will cause at least some problems at Break the Ice, but simply moving students to a different location is not going to solve this problem. As the event will take place off campus, students may be even more likely to drink heavily beforehand, since they will be anticipating a 20'minus;minute bus ride to and from the event. Once there, TEMS will not be a phone call away to deal with potential alcohol poisoning, and students are potentially less likely to call for help if they have to call 911. Any problems with public drunkenness will have to be dealt with not by TUPD, but by the Boston Police Department.
It is laudable that Tufts and the Programming Board are trying to strike a balance between offering fun events for the whole campus and keeping students safe. However, the measures taken for Break the Ice come at the cost of student welfare. Charging for tickets in an effort to reduce attendance unfairly targets students without a disposable income, and shoving the potentially messy problems associated with the event off campus will not necessarily solve the issue of excessive alcohol consumption. Hopefully Break the Ice will be a fun, safe event for those who attend, but Programming Board and the administration should reconsider the steps they have taken in light of fairness and student safety.
