Debate about possible campus pub continues

Published: Monday, September 28, 1998

Monday, September 28, 1998

PROHIBITION: Facing opposition, ASUCLA's Cooperage has been unable to obtain a liquor license

By Meghan Ward

Daily Bruin Contributor

It probably never occurred to you that the space tucked back between the arcade and the textbook store on A-level Ackerman called The Cooperage (a place where barrels and casks are made and repaired) was originally designed to be a pub.

A pub! On campus? Isn't that illegal, against university policy, a violation of Alcohol Board of Control (ABC) regulations?

Not according to Lance Menthe, a graduate student member of the Associated Students of UCLA (ASUCLA) Board of Directors.

Menthe said that he hopes to convince ASUCLA management to research the possibility of opening a pub on campus by next year. He is preparing to face opposition to a campus pub.

The first step toward gaining the approval of the ASUCLA Board of Directors and management is to conduct fiscal studies in order to ascertain whether installing a pub is worth the time and money it will cost the association.

Patricia Eastman, executive director of ASUCLA, said she does not have the capacity to investigate the idea of a pub on campus.

"It's a 20-year-old item, and it's not something I'm interested in taking another look at right now," Eastman said.

Eastman said she feels conditions that led to opposition in the past have not changed in recent years.

"ASUCLA could spend a tremendous amount of money researching the matter," Eastman said.

In January 1979, the ASUCLA Board of Directors voted in favor of establishing a pub in Ackerman Union and admitting persons under the age of 21 into the pub - although they would not be served alcohol.

Don Findley, then ASUCLA executive director, and Professor Emeritus Edward Rada opposed the idea.

After the school applied for a liquor license, Rada appealed the decision, and the ABC upheld the appeal.

Neither Findley nor Rada were available for comment.

In 1983 and 1984, ASUCLA applied for a license to serve liquor in Lu Valle Commons, where Jimmy's is now located, but they were met once again with opposition from Rada.

Discouraged by previous failures to attain a liquor license, ASUCLA reopened the issue with reluctance in 1988.

It chose not to apply for the license that year, based on the assumption that it would once again be refused.

The estimated cost of getting a license, including the price of fighting appeals, was estimated at $150,000 based on the $125,000 previously spent. Today, the cost is estimated at $200,000.

James Friedman, a current ASUCLA graduate student board member, said the association is not in a financial position to invest in a risky enterprise at the moment.

"I've heard that student pubs haven't done so well lately - students are on campus all day long, and the last thing they want to do is to stay on campus to have a drink," Friedman explained.

He said that if the students have an overwhelming desire to have a pub, he would support it. But Friedman questions the motivation for opening a pub.

"Would we be doing what they have in Westwood and would it be worth it to have it five minutes closer?" Friedman asked.

Ashely Anderson, a fourth-year English student, said she feels it would be worth it to have a pub on campus.

"Almost every university back East has a bar. I see it as a pub, a place to grab a beer when you're stressed from studying - just a mellow place. At Madison's and Maloney's, the music is blaring so loud that you can't hear the person next to you," she said.

Anderson envisions a "Bruin Bar" with beer and pretzels, televisions and a pool table.

Menthe, however, has something else in mind. He wants to aim the pub specifically at graduate students and faculty, refusing admission to anyone under the age of 21.

"There are two kinds of drinking permits. It is cheaper and easier to get a license for a pub, a place that serves only wine and beer," Menthe explained. "But that would mean no one under 21 could be allowed to enter."

Menthe said he hopes that a pub aimed at graduate students and faculty will meet with less opposition from critics than a noisy sports bar.

The majority of University of California campuses and many California State campuses have pubs on campus. However, many of these college campuses are in areas where there isn't easy access to local watering holes, said Pam Viele, director of health education in the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center.

From a health education perspective, Viele said she feels that a pub on campus may present students with the misperception that they are expected to drink and may increase levels of binge drinking - drinking four or more drinks in one sitting.

In addition, Viele said she does not feel that there is a pressing need for a bar on campus.

In fact, according to surveys conducted by the health education department, one out of three UCLA students does not drink at all.

Still, campus bars and pubs at other universities have proved enormously successful.

Mike Alaraj, manager of the Bear's Lair, a privately owned bar at UC Berkeley, works in conjunction with their Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) and the local police in order to sponsor student organized events. The bar has existed on campus for over 25 years.

Peggy Perkins, ASUC auxiliary, said that during the 17 years she has worked at Berkeley, there has been no opposition to the bar and there have been no problems in recent years.

"In fact, one of the classes dedicated a hearth at a fireplace for it," Perkins said.

The Bear's Lair is subject to both campus policy and ABC regulations.

Nancy Greenstein, spokeswoman for the UC Police, said the police department will support university policy with respect to a campus pub. Its main concerns are drunk driving and underage drinking.

Greenstein said that whether a campus bar would promote or prevent drunk driving is not possible to determine.

If students stay on campus rather than driving to Hollywood or Santa Monica to get a drink, the pub could reduce incidents of drunk driving, she said.

However, if students who live off campus drink and then drive home, the pub could lead to an increase in the 60 incidents of driving under the influence reported by the UCPD in 1997.

Although the ASUCLA board is primarily composed of students, there is little chance that a pub will be added to the UCLA campus without the support of the student body as a whole.

"The sense I've had is that there has never been a lot of interest in it," Bob Naples, assistant vice chancellor of student and campus life, said.

Related sites:

•UCLA Student Alcohol Policy

•100,000 Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline

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