2008 Woodie Awards
MCSG reviews drinking policy
By: Amy Ledig, News Editor
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: News
A resolution that would make Residential Hall directors, and not Residential Assistants, responsible for alcohol policy enforcement passed at the Macalester Student Government Legislative Body's meeting Tuesday night. An amendment added by Andrew Mirzayi '10, a sophomore class representative and MCSG Vice President- elect, will establish a taskforce of MCSG members, Residential Life staff, administration members and students to evaluate the college's current alcohol policy and its effect on the Macalester community.
MCSG will now create a committee that will help determine how the policy change will be implemented. Laurie Hamre, vice president of Student Affairs, would have to approve the decision before any changes are enacted.
Jake Levy-Pollans '09, a junior class representative, introduced the initial resolution. He said he thinks that having RAs responsible for policy enforcement and building trust with their residents creates a difficult situation.
Levy-Pollans said that the reasoning behind the change is that "communities led by RAs don't seem to be working anymore… Asking RAs to build community and trust among students one day and write them up the next day some something they do too is [hard]."
He said he wants to see Macalester's policy become more similar to those of our peer institutions, which, in contrast to Macalester's emphasis on "a list of don'ts and ways you can be published," he said, state that students need to obey the law, but also encourage students to make responsible decisions and educate themselves.
"The alcohol policy is one of those things that Mac students talk about and complain about but there's never any real impetus to change it," Levy-Pollans said.
He said that the inspiration for the change had come from a conversation he had been having with other students on MCSG.
"Conversation with friends turned into something for once... I want to start a conversation about alcohol policy, [which is] broken," he said, adding that it is broken because upper classmen are moving off campus and underclassmen are making bad decisions.
MCSG will now create a committee that will help determine how the policy change will be implemented. Laurie Hamre, vice president of Student Affairs, would have to approve the decision before any changes are enacted.
Jake Levy-Pollans '09, a junior class representative, introduced the initial resolution. He said he thinks that having RAs responsible for policy enforcement and building trust with their residents creates a difficult situation.
Levy-Pollans said that the reasoning behind the change is that "communities led by RAs don't seem to be working anymore… Asking RAs to build community and trust among students one day and write them up the next day some something they do too is [hard]."
He said he wants to see Macalester's policy become more similar to those of our peer institutions, which, in contrast to Macalester's emphasis on "a list of don'ts and ways you can be published," he said, state that students need to obey the law, but also encourage students to make responsible decisions and educate themselves.
"The alcohol policy is one of those things that Mac students talk about and complain about but there's never any real impetus to change it," Levy-Pollans said.
He said that the inspiration for the change had come from a conversation he had been having with other students on MCSG.
"Conversation with friends turned into something for once... I want to start a conversation about alcohol policy, [which is] broken," he said, adding that it is broken because upper classmen are moving off campus and underclassmen are making bad decisions.
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posted 4/14/08 @ 1:33 AM CST
While I applaud Jake L.P. etc. for bringing up this issue, I do not see this going anywhere. Res Life ultimately decides its own policy. To think that these people (the hall directors) would choose to make their own jobs harder for the common good is not in line with their past decisions. (Continued…)
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