Now in its fifth year on the Cal Poly campus, Friday Night Live expressed the importance of the community using caution when making the decision whether or not to allow the pub to be established.
With the recent news that a pub could be coming to Cal Poly’s campus, several questions and opinions regarding the situation are circulating through the university.
One of these opinions comes from Friday Night Live (FNL), a statewide program that aims to educate and raise awareness for how high-risk drinking and illicit drug use affect college students and communities. Through the Federal Drug-Free Communities Grant, Cal Poly was able to team up with FNL.
Now in its fifth year on the Cal Poly campus, Friday Night Live has expressed the importance of the community using caution when making the decision whether or not to allow the pub to be established.
“If the decision is made to have a pub on campus, it’s up to Cal Poly to make sure they know the responsibilities that come with the choice,” Jenn Rhoads, the San Luis Obispo County coordinator for Friday Night Live said.
“Policies that encourage legal and responsible drinking say a lot about the message that Cal Poly wants to send, that they care about their students’ success, and that getting out of control with alcohol isn’t conducive to student health and welfare.” Rhoads added.
Rhoads also expressed concerns regarding students’ stress being handled in a healthy way with access to alcohol on campus.
“With midterms and finals, we need to be sure that the pub wouldn’t become a way for legal students to cope with stress by drinking,” she said.
Although still in the premature stages of discussion, students have also voiced some concerns and doubts about the new possibility.
“Because freshman and underage students make up almost all of the students living on campus, there’s no purpose for a pub,” liberal studies freshman Cory Kent said. “And for students, weekends are better spent off campus, as a time to explore and escape from school for a bit.”
The need for a pub has also been called into question, especially with an abundance of pubs and bars conveniently located downtown.
“Having a pub on campus isn’t a bad idea, I just don’t see why it’s necessary,” sociology sophomore Lizzie Mediati said. ”There are so many places with the same draw close by, and I would prefer the money go to something that would benefit the larger population, like the school’s technology and internet on campus.”
Another way to ensure safety for all students is the thorough training of all employees, who would most likely consist of a number of students.
“There would have to be a really comprehensive server training, they would need to make sure they always check for IDs, and it’s especially crucial that they are trained to recognize fake IDs,” Rhoads said. “Supporting the staff and servers would be, first and foremost really important, being able to recognize when to cut a person off and teaching employees how to cut a person off can be difficult.”
Other questions surrounding an on-campus bar could involve transportation, possible increases in police presence and admittance to students under 21. With so much to consider in making the decision, Rhoads said Cal Poly needs to fully consider a pub’s implications before making a decision.
“This decision cannot be made lightly,” she said. “The logistics need to be figured out beforehand, questions need to be asked. Will the pub’s presence negatively influence students to engage in unhealthy and high-risk drinking? Will the decision made be best, or is there a better alternative?”