Posted on 10/20/2005 10:49:48 AM PDT by Rodney King
A proposed regulation targeting keg purchasers in Boston may force some college students to opt for six-packs.
The law, expected to pass the Boston Licensing Board on Oct. 27, would require all liquor stores to report keg purchasers names, addresses, and dates of birth to the Boston Police Department. The effort was spurred by the reckless drinking that fueled last years riots that followed the Red Sox playoff win over the Yankees and resulted in an Emerson College student dying after being shot with a rubber bullet by a police officer.
According to Boston police captain William B. Evans, as quoted in the Boston Herald, the new legislation aims at flagging the problem houses when complaints come in.
John Bodnovich, spokesman for the American Beverage Licensees, told the Herald that Boston, with a metropolitan area that houses 200,000 college students, may represent the first municipality taking this step in its alcohol regulation policy.
New York State law currently requires keg purchasers to submit their names to the liquor seller along with appropriate identification and proof-of-age, and it requires purchasers to sign an affirmation that the alcohol will not be consumed in violation of the law.
The University is beholden to follow New York State law, said Robert Taylor, senior associate director at Columbias Student Development and Activities office.
The Universitys policy regarding kegs at social events is even more stringent.
Bottom line, there are no kegs allowed for any event for fraternities and sororities, Hikaru Kozuma, associate director for the Residential Programs Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, wrote in an e-mail.
But Emily Ross, CC 06 and president of the Inter-Greek Council, noted that the average fraternity party purchases two to three kegs anyway, depending on the size of the parties.
Ross also noted that most campus security interventions are triggered by noise complaintsnot alcohol policy violations.
The police have a lot more to deal with than trying to monitor college students, Ross said.
Police are never really a first response unless its a matter campus security cant handle, which is very unlikely, Taylor said.
Rocco Osso, record manager for Public Safety at Columbia, said he understood the concerns of the Boston Licensing Board and the Boston Police Department.
Obviously they have a problem. Thankfully we dont have that big a problem, he said. Lets wait and see how effective the law is in Boston before we ascertain if it will work in New York.
In the short term [a similar law] might raise anxieties. But in the long term if [registration] is what was needed, thats what people would do, Ross said.
Anyway, the article talks a bit about University keg parties. Columbia banned kegs at fraternity parties between my freshman and sophmore years. It was a really stupid policy. When there are kegs, the beer is all in one place, and people stay near the kegs. When you have to buy a few hundred cases of Meister Brau, people wind up wandering all over the place with beer, and it is harder to monitor if people under-age are drinking.
When beer is outlawed...only outlaws will have beer.
..yeah it's hard to fit your hand around a keg.
Doogle
First they took away my beer...so I popped a cap in 'em!
Whew. I know I feel safer now. I couldn't sleep at night knowing there were anonymous kegs floating around Boston.
First they took away my beer...so I popped a cap in 'em!
Another silly "feel good" law.
First kegs, then any purchase at a liquor store.
Mass. will become like Switzerland, where all liquor purchases are reported to the government, and if you purchase "too much," they make a report to your employer...
This will certainly cut down on underage drinkers drinking beer at frat parties in Boston.
But most underage drinkers probably don't even like beer, and the replacement for beer at these parties is probably going to be a heck of a lot stronger than the contents of those kegs.
I predict increases in sales of large 1.75 liter bottles of cheap vodka, rum, and whiskey. In fact, if I were a liquor store - I'd have to say that this new law was about to make me a richer man. Instead of selling a keg with almost no margin for profit, I'll be selling lots of bottles of hard liquor with much nicer margins.
...HOLD IT! ..."Swimmer" (HIC) drinks Chavas/Scotch. :/
But no restrictions on Chivas... Hmmmm.....
XENOPHOBIC ALIEN
Mass state is seemingly racing to embrace socialism completely, despite any objections from some of it's citizens...
So there going to pass a law because a University can't or won't enforce it's own policy!
"Nanny! Nanny! Where are you?"
LOL, that's why beer, the 'common' man's drink, is the one with restrictions...
Time for a little cognitive whiplash: Behold, the high dudgeon of the common American Hops-Head.
You have so much alcohol in your system that your cabbie has to be HazMat certified.
You install shag carpet because its easier to hang on to. Embalming fluid would be an improvement.
Your last Breathalyzer reading was No Effing Way.
Distilleries fight over the billboard nearest to your place of residence.
Your friends often substitute Good night with Hey, you cant sleep here.
When you donate blood they store it in oak barrels.
Your name is police code for Public Intoxication.
Youre fairly sure a letter to Dear Abby signed Want To Leave the Bum, But Cant was written by your liver.
Your favorite drinking game is Do A Shot Every Time You Do A Shot.
Your idea of a seven-course meal is a six-pack and a pizza.
TV beer ads have started addressing you by name.
You brush your teeth with bourbon. It hasnt helped cut down on cavities, but who cares?
You know heavy drinking makes you smarter because you can never remember doing anything stupid while blacked out.
You have a split personalityevery time you meet someone with booze you want to split it with them.
You were so drunk at the office Xmas party that you kissed your own wife.
You become sexually aroused by the tapping of a keg.
You know you can use Jagermeister as cough syrup. And visa versa.
You spill so much booze at home your dog slurs his barks.
Your credit history is composed entirely of bar tabs.
Youre always shaking hands, even when theres no one else around.
Whenever you bend your elbow your mouth snaps open.
When your boss asks you to work overtime you demand time and a fifth.
Your favorite bar is four blocks away six blocks coming back.
The Red Cross uses your blood to sterilize their instruments.
Youre half scotch, and your ancestors arent from Scotland.
You know how to handle your liquor with both hands.
You can tell what bar youre in by the bottoms of their tables.
A liter of scotch isn't enough to invite a friend over for a drink.
You know most the of people in a bar and cant remember one of their names.
Anyone who kisses you must legally wait half an hour to drive.
Youve filed assault charges against a coffee table.
When youre out in the street, you are literally out in the street.
You think of drinking beer as sobering up,
You can say Whiskey, please in 34 languages, but cant understand Last call in English.
You know better than going near an open flame while youre bleeding.
Your bed looks a helluva lot like a park bench, and your bedroom looks a helluva lot like a park.
Youve been cut off during communion.
You wonder why they call it Southern Comfort when they know damn well there is nothing comfortable about being handcuffed in the back of a squad car.
Growing-up means buying better booze, getting older means getting used to the cheap stuff again.
Your bartender never has to ask, Do you want another?
You're favorite method of dieting is the Slim Jim: Ultra Slim-Fast shakes made with Jim Beam.
You fell down two flights of stairs and didnt spill a drop.
When you wake up hungover youre afraid youll die. Half an hour later youre afraid youll live.
You wonder why people need friends when you can just sit in a room and drink all day.
They did this here in an Indiana city and the big liquor stores loved it. It is hard work moving kegs and empties back and forth for little or no money, now the same kids come in and buy literally shopping carts stacked full of cases of beer, they are making money hand over fist and selling approximately the same amount of beer.
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