Murray State University - Shield Yearbook (Murray, KY)

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The Combination Of Stiffer Laws And Increased Alcohol Awareness Brought About . Soberin ffect By Jackie Wells T he problem of alcohol . abuse gained much atten- 1 nationally in 1984. Murray te University, like the rest of nation, seemed to be wak- up to the realities of that ious problem. ts judges in courts around country were getting tough h drunk drivers, even first znders, campus administra- 5 were busy trying to head the inevitable. The office of vice president of Student lelopment provided each :ernity on campus with a athalyzer and instructed m to administer the test to h guest leaving a fraternity ty. This attempt to appease annoyed public only seemed add fuel to the fire. Some Murray citizens saw a act as a condonement of illegal sale of alcohol in ir community. University of- als maintained they were y trying to promote respon- e drinking habits. lt was the :nt of the University to keep nk students off the road- Js. Some did not believe this Jld work. Ialloway County Attorney x Parker called a meeting of campus fraternity leaders l told them he was prepared arosecute to the fullest ex- t of the law any fraternity t sold liquor in the county. 2 sale of alcoholic beverages he county was illegal. 'ension was mounting na- ially as well. Students at an ,o university rioted when ir university cracked down alcohol. A judge in another io county began sentencing in first offenders of alcohol 0 laws to jail terms. The county attorney's office threatened to send undercover policemen to the fraternity par- ties to catch those that were selling alcohol. Fraternity par- ties halted. The Student Government As- sociation got involved, and de- clared the week of Dec. 3-7 Al- cohol Awareness Week. Since an estimated 95 percent of the students on campus had ex- perimented with alcohol, SGA decided to sponsor a program to teach students to drink re- sponsibly. SGA president Rob Huth said, 'Alcohol Awareness Week had a positive effect. People are learning to drink re- sponsiblyf' The Residence Hall Associ- ation did their part as well. RHA sponsored a stress manage- ment program during Alcohol Awareness Week. Eugene Stratton, president of RHA said, Most drinking problems are caused by poor stress man- agement. Stratton said most people who abused alcohol were simply reacting to stress. The problem stood unre- solved in 1985. County officials were preoccupied with other af- fairs, and fraternity parties were back in the swing of things. Nationally, concerns had lessened but only time would tell whether or not American college students had learned how to drink responsi- bly. I

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hy did I ever apply for this job? groaned a Racer Patrolman as he pushed the button for the elevator. Stop complaining, let's get this over with, said his part- ner. the small elevator reached the lobby of the Fine Arts Build- ing. The two walked inside. lt's just not worth what Llni- versity Work Study pays to stay up until two in the morn- ing, continued the first. The other said nothing, but pushed the sixth-floor button as they began their inspection to put the building to bed for the night. Finally after the standard 30- to-45 second wait for the eleva- tor doors to close, they began to ascend. The two watched the num- bers flash as they passed each floor.1 1U 2 then the elevator stopped. The doors opened onto the usually closed maintenance floor 2Ll. The door was unlocked and open. They looked at one an- otherg they walked into the cor- ridor. The door to the lighting booth for the R.E. Johnson Theater was also unlocked and open. Somebody must be working late, said one patrol- man to the other. lt sounded more like a question wanting a reassuring agreement rather than a statement of fact. They walked into the booth. The cov- er was off of the control panel and the ghost lights were on. After investigating, they de- termined no one was there. I guess we'd better lock up, Campus Life -.l- glwggyfzil' said one of them. One patrolman locked the doors, the other began to put the cover back on the panel, he didn't finish the task, he glanced out of the window at the stage. Holy C:-D-1f'Z18! What? I saw something on the stage! What? ldaknow! Let's go. Keeping in mind their sacred duty as members of the Racer Patrol to protect our campus, they ran out of the booth and down the spiral staircase into the auditorium. Okay, where's the ghost? asked the skeptic. I saw some- thing, I know I did, said the other. The two became quiet. They looked. They called. They listened. Then, they heard. There was a noise back up in the booth. They ran upstairs and met an unbelievable sight. The doors they had locked were again unlocked and stand- ing open. The cover, which had been off of the panel, was re- placed. They glanced at the panel, the ghost lights were off. Incidents such as this are not new to the Price Doyle Fine Arts Center. Since its comple- tion in 1971, the things that go bump in the night are not few and far between. In fact, they have become a permanent part of the routine for the students and professors in the music, ra- dio-TV, art and theater depart- ments. The elevators seem to have a Q I tlfr 1 d f - - M- - - lk.. ,1- ' Q 'HEL' '35-4 . ' 'Q - 2, L Y' K v -gg Y . wife-, K, I 'mf 11105 -ev. E I ,I-Et - 4 I - 'iw 11 A E fi 1 ', M ' 'Wi IIE ' .if .M 'W ' ' Wi i- ,ew ,M-.M ji.-my -:ft-if IWW V '-.Maxx I- -.W 1. . its Y . ilisf 5 L 'r w, ..t.1 32:255- B y Dannie Prather mind of their own. People who request a car either verbally or mentally, but never push a but- ton, are miraculously granted an elevator on the spot. Coinci- dence? Right. Disorganization runs ram- pant in any situation, but how could theater students consis- tently lose and find props or mysteriously lose all control of lighting and sound equipment that has been checked, double checked and triple checked? Are theater students mentally defective? Perhaps, but have all theater students since 1971 been mentally defective? Doubtful. How is it that RTV majors see a man in a flannel shirt and blue jeans walk down a corridor with no unlocked exits and nev- er return the way he came? And the poor dear souls on campus security who hear the machinery in the art and design shops running but when they open the doors of the shop, all is quiet. Are these people hallu- cinating? Maybe. I don't believe it! What's wrong? I left my knapsack backstage after the performance. Let me guess, it had your notes in it, right? Of course, you go on, I'll catch up with you later. The weary theater student retraced his tracks to the stage to find his books. He could hear his footsteps reverberate in the empty auditorium. Who's there? he called as he saw a plaid shirt disappear behind the curtain. He went backstage and called again. There was no an- swer. Unlike himself, he could hear no footsteps crossing the floor. Come on now, you're just tired, he thought as he turned back. lt was just a tough performance, nobody's here. Then he saw the curtain gently swaying back and forth where he thought he had seen the man pass. Halloween offers a different element of intrigue and opens whole new doors of possibilities for incidents Since music students harbor a special relationship with the feelings and forces in the arts, several students decided to tryj their hand at ghostbusting. I After a trip to Asbury Ceme-I tery, approximately a dozen: students decided to take a tour. of the Fine Arts Complex to see I what they could see. Their trek ended rather abruptly in Lovett Auditorium, which is not im-. mune to the coincidences of fl the rest of the complex. Most of the stories that have '- originated in Lovett deal withl- one lopsided balcony seatt which, no matter what, will not: stay erect. Because of this, the- upper chair on the far left side: of the balcony is never occu-- pied during a performance. Surely everyone has heard of reserved seating. You know those theater guys said the chair fell over twice after they set it up? Ah, C'mon. Get real. I don't believe it. l'll go up there if someone willt 4