Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

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NO MORE PITCHERS. The new drinking law has pro- hibited the 900 Room from selling beer in pitchers. Freely flowing beer at campus parties is to become a rare sight if state legislators have their way. Drinking Laws 29

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Safe Roads Act affects social atmosphere The signs have changed. Those brightly colored, sometimes elaborate, sometimes cryptic signs put up around campus to an- nounce band parties and discos simply read SAE — After the game — 5 i egs or After disco — kegs — be there ; they now read Party before you come and bring l.D. Other signs aren ' t plastered all over cam- pus, but they are there. The Fiji ' s bought a party bus to transport partiers back and forth from campus to their house. Eighteen- year-olds don ' t buy liquid refreshment at Food Lion and 7-Eleven anymore. Perhaps the change most noticed by the majority is the absence of pitchers in the 900 Room, designed to control who ' s drinking what. They ' re all signs — signs of the new Safe Roads Act of 1983 and the effect it has had on Davidson ' s already limited social scene. The Safe Roads Act, passed by the Morth Carolina legislature in May of 1983 and tak- ing effect October 1, was designed to re- duce the number of alcohol-related driving accidents by raising the legal drinking age for beer and wine from eighteen to nineteen and strengthening the laws already on the books. Penalties for driving under the influ- ence of alcohol are now stiffer, the sale or purchase of alcohol to or by a minor results in the loss of driver ' s license and or fines, and a recent national law makes a bartend- er responsible for serving an already intoxi- cated person. Most affected by the laws are, of course, freshmen who are still under nineteen. But the law is viewed by most Davidson stu- dents as an irritation, rather than a deter- rent. Students must have an ID to get into the parties or into the 900 Room, and those whose IDs were so rudely stamped in scar- let Under 19 must go to the trouble of obtaining and consuming their alcohol be- fore going to the party, changing the age-old dilemma of making it home after the revel- ry to one of making it there at all. A major protest raged on campus for sev- eral weeks after the decision to ban pitch- ers from the 900 Room, led by those who thought they were out of reach, the 19-year- olds and older. Most protests against the law have been subtle, but the criticisms are present. Some people are incensed by the age change, claiming an 18-year-old who can vote or go to war and die like an adult can also make an adult decision about drinking. Others are offended by the obvious blame for the ma- jority of drinking related accidents being placed on the 18-year-old age group Some have even suggested that college students should be exempt from the laws since we don ' t drive anywhere anyway! The criticisms usually stop at the age change. Most students agree with the rest of the world that alcoholism and related accidents must be curbed and that the laws were not strong enough. Then there is still the shady connection between the new drinking laws and the Hon- or Code (or is it the Code Of Responsibility ... as mentioned above, it ' s still shady . . . ). So, the signs are different now. But . . . the parties are there, the beer trucks are there, and the open bars are there . . . and more often than not, the freshmen are there. — Christi Hayes May I see your l.D.? Senior Jeff Tilbury greets par- ty-goers at the door of the FIJI house. Patterson court houses have begun checking I.D. ' s and stamping hands in an effort to curtail underage consumption of alcohol. 28 STaDENT LIFE

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Cars: a necessary luxury? With the number of bicycles multiplying each year, the question concerning the ne- cessity of cars on campus arises. Do stu- dents really need them? The answer is not as simble as it might appear. True, if cars were absolutely necessary then the owner- ship of one would be a requirement for en- trance. It is not. Yet, a number of students bring cars to campus each year, and many have legitimate reasons for doing so. The definition of car to many students is simply FREEDOM. Cars are the best pre- ventative measure from the potential insan- ity which threatens pressured students. They are the remedy for Davidson overdose — a condition which seems to be more prevalent among upperclassmen than among freshmen. According to one stu- dent, Freshmen don ' t need cars, because everything is so new to them. There is plen- ty to keep them entertained. But what happens when the parties get old, the work piles up, and the grades plum- met? What does one do when he feels more like a prisoner than a student? The answer for many is to get away from it all. Except for those with exceptional athlet- ic ability, a bicycle is of little use when one wants to get away. Somehow a trip to the lake campus is just not far enough away to push problems from overburdened minds. The closest town offering anything in the way of entertainment, Charlotte, is 25 miles away — quite a hike for the less-than-well- conditioned student and not a real safe one at that! So, perhaps, the plea for the neces- sity of a car is not so irrational after all. But students have additional reasons for bringing cars to school. For instance, cars are a definite convenience when one needs to run one of the 101 errands that come up during the course of the year. Everyone who has been stranded can relate to the humiliation felt in begging for a ride to Char- lotte, especially when it is a less than conve- nient time to ask (i.e. exam week. Home- coming weekend, Hattie ' s Night, etc). Furthermore, unless one is satisfied with bicycling to the local restaurants on Satur- day nights, cars are a must when it comes to the dating scene. After all, how many campus movies and band parties can you take a date to before he she starts wonder- 30 STCJDENT LIFE ing about your being (how can 1 put this nicely?) less than willing to spend a few dollars?! For those students who lived off campus, there is the necessity of getting to class, preferably on time, which requires some to own or to have access to a car. Others choose to argue that everything in David- son is within walking distance. They need only try to get to an 8 o ' clock class during winter term in sub-zero weather or in the midst of one of Davidson ' s infamous winter rains to change their minds. Still, the reasons students voice for bring- ing cars to campus are not exhausted! Ju- nior and senior pre-med students, as well as some Biology majors, need some means of transportation to get to courses which meet at the Mooresville or Charlotte hospitals. Education majors need cars to get to the various schools where they student-teach. Some bring cars because they live so close to home and can run home whenever they need money or a home-cooked meal. On the other hand, some have cars because they live so far away and have a hard time find- ing others going their way. Then there are those who have hometown-honeys and find cars a necessity, although in some cases planes would be preferable. And of course, one must not exclude the fraternity broth- ers, who find cars necessary to make fre- quent roadtrips to neighboring schools. Cars are also convenient when going to bas- ketball games at the Coliseum, raiding the nearby liquior store before a big party, pick- ing up kegs, . . . need I go on? Yet, there are a few students who neither have nor want cars on campus. According to one student, the inconveniences of wor- rying about maintenance, paying for gas, and finding a parking space negates any advantage of having a car. with everything she needs right here, she said she ' d prefer to walk. But she and others like her are the exception and not the rule. Many students do have cars and a number of those who do not, wish they did. Perhaps cars are not an absolute necessity, but in this modern, time-conscious world we live in, they are as close to necessity as luxury can come. — Joanne Stryker V I