This section was last modified on Thursday, October 12, 1995.

The Open Reading Frame is an open forum to bring up issues. This section was wholly written by Richard Sucgang. All comments should be direction to the e-mail form.

Special Treatment for Bacchus?

Since 1990, a comprehensive, University-wide policy has been in place for serving and consuming alcohol in student activities. A set of 15 general rules govern all student events.

On 5 October 1995, the Society of Bacchus, a P&S Club affiliate, advertised and sponsored a wine tasting. The promotional poster for the event lacked the mention of a proof of age requirement; in addition it explicitly mentioned wines. This is a clear violation of Rule 13, which states:

Rule 13.: "All events that have alcholic beverages served must state in all promotions or advertising: Double proof of age is required...No other mention of alcohol or displays of alcohol are permitted in any promotional material...

It must be noted that, by its very nature, a wine tasting cannot be a University sanctioned event. Wine tastings center their theme on different types of wine, and this is a violation of Rule 4, which states:

Rule 4.: "The theme of the event must be social, cultural, or educational, not the type or quantity of alcohol."

Since the poster also mentioned charging $15 for the tasting, unless the Society of Bacchus possesses a license, it may also be in violation of Rule 10:

Rule 10.: "Alcoholic beverages may not be dispensed...where money changes hands (sales, admission, charged...) without a license or permit."

In the last few years, more than one student group on the Health Sciences campus had advertised or sponsored events that violated these rules. However, such incidences were isolated events, and seldom reappeared. This was presumably due to the resultant disciplinary action from the University administration.

The Society of Bacchus, on the other hand, has regularly sponsored and advertised wine tastings year after year after the institution of the University policy on alcohol consumption in 1992. The continued presence of the wine tastings could either be due to persistent violation of University policy in spite of disciplinary action (which University documents indicate may be as severe as expulsion), or that no disciplinary actions were ever exacted on the Society of Bacchus, despite its continued violations of University Rules. Could the Society, and its constituents, be enjoying special protection or treatment?

We invite all comments and replies to this issue.

Our previous topic raised the issue of signing away one's intellectual property while at Columbia University. It elicited absolutely no responses, despite being online for over 6 months. We can only infer that most people who reach the Web version of the Vector are apathetic about the issue.