Just about everyone is talking about the new Collis. Much of the conversation is about the Lone Pine Tavern. Who will be allowed in? Who will come? While these questions are interesting, the debate itself points to a more general and far reaching conflict between the law and college culture.
From the strictly cultural point of view, there should be no problem involving a college tavern. In America it is accepted that in college a student will have numerous opportunities to drink beer.
Every conceivable source of pop culture reinforces this view. Movies, magazines and MTV all present a picture of college that inevitably involves alcohol.
Perhaps most importantly, our parents' generation seems to accept that its children will consume a few beers in college. My own parents, who were violently opposed to drinking while I was in high school, now seem to have quietly resigned to the fact that I will drink in college.
The story of how my parents fell in love in college is highlighted by a date at a German beer garden. They still proudly display the steins they drank out of on that fateful evening. The story, the steins and the German beer garden are all integral parts of my parents' college years.
At family gatherings I am told by my uncles, "Every once in a while, put down that beer and pick up a book." Underneath their joking manner is the assumption that drinking is at least part of my college experience.
However, I am 20 years old, which makes my consumption of alcohol a clear violation of New Hampshire law. Herein lies the conflict that fuels not only the debate over the Lone Pine Tavern, but nearly every discussion of drinking on this campus.
In the specific case of the Lone Pine Tavern, students have the expectation that in college it is perfectly normal to sit down in a tavern, listen to a band and drink a beer.
A similar situation exists in other drinking settings on the campus. Fraternity parties are open to all, yet there is this division based on age that seems entirely artificial on a college campus full of students who consider themselves peers.
However, the College cannot simply ignore the law. Everything from the College's liquor license to federal aid is at stake.
There would be no conflict in either of two situations: if the drinking age returned to 18 or if everyone under the age of 21 simply made no attempt to break the law. As neither is likely to happen we are left with an unsteady equilibrium.
The administration can never appear to condone underage drinking, but it cannot possibly stop it. I suggest that the best way to improve Dartmouth's image with respect to alcohol is to spend more energy and money on programs to deal with alcohol abuse.
The students have a responsibility as well. If there are no problems in the Lone Pine Tavern with underage drinking, then all ages will always be welcome.
In the more general alcohol situation, if students avoid drunken brawls with Safety and Security agents and the like, then there will be less pressure on the administration to take punitive action.
The Lone Pine Tavern is simply one battle in a larger war. Perhaps both sides can come out ahead in this conflict. But no matter what happens, the larger conflict between drinking at college and state law will continue.
