By ALEX BUDNEY
Staff Writer

All of these phrases are new to the 1997--1998 academic year, as is the current alcohol policy which was overhauled during summer 1997.

The alcohol policy overhaul was because of legal pressure placed on the administration (BY WHOM?). The policy now requires all student organizations to have their parties professionally catered, if alcohol is to be present.

According to the laws of Maine, selling tickets before the party, as was the usual, is actually considered the illegal sale of alcohol, without a license.

Reason for reform

The reform of the alcohol policy was triggered by the incidents of last spring, in which there were conflicts between the Bates community and the local law enforcement, regarding parties in which alcohol was involved. The administration decided that changes had to be made so that Bates would no longer be held liable for any future incidents that might occur.

Because the Joint Commission on Alcohol was not in session over the summer, the alteration was made without its input.

The Joint Commission on Alcohol, which has been in existence for two years this month, has now been called on to review the new policy. The commission consists of members of the Representative Assembly and the Extracurricular Activities and Residential Life (EARL) committee, and others from the entire Bates community.

Because of the lack of input on the current policy, the Commission has decided to conduct focus groups over the next couple of months to find out how the students feel about the changes.

The current changes are "not set in stone, but the legal constraints do put parameters on the rules," said Peter Taylor, associate dean of students.

Fears played out, fears allayed

The new policy had some people worrying about the effects it might have on the Bates social scene. Many felt that it might hamper the attendance of parties, perhaps causing them to falter altogether. During the beginning of first semester, many parties were poorly attended, with students saying that they would "rather stay in our rooms, and drink with friends," said one sophmore.

Organization leaders have been worrying about profit incentive. Traditionally, organizations throw parties to boost their budgets. The new requirement of hiring a catering service, coupled with the banishment of pre--party ticket sales, put the financial outcome of a party in question.

In September, the deans of students office agreed to subsidize parties, and to work in conjunction with the organizations to ensure enough non-alcoholic beverages for the events, Taylor said. At the beginning of the year the office of student activities subsidized parties to help get things going. After the social scene picked up they again let organizations be financially independent.

According to Taylor, however, a turning point came with the weekend of the WRBC rave and the Turner House formal. The Rave, which Taylor described as "spectacularly done." Aside from a respectable attendance, the party made $913, according to Megan Tobin, WRBC treasurer.

"The campus was ripe for a good party; everyone wanted one and the new alcohol policy puts pressure on organizations and organization leaders to do more work," said former WRBC General Manager Keith Gauger '99.

Preparation for a party no longer consists of simply providing music and a keg.

Aside from relieving the college of liability, the new alcohol policy removes the organization leaders from responsibility. Under the old policy, if a server provided alcohol to someone who was under 21 or who was already intoxicated, and that person was then involved in an illegal incident, the servers would be held responsible according to third party liability.

The responsibility now falls completely on the caterers. Currently, there are five caterers registered with the college. Professionally run cash bars have "freed up the number of people [needed] to run parties," said Taylor

Pains of pre--partying

The policy has brought about some concern in regard to the increased practice of pre--partying. Since students under the age of 21 can no longer get alcohol at parties, the practice of drinking before going to a party has increased, as evidenced by the large numbers of students who showed up "totally plastered," at both the Halloween and Winter Carnival parties, said an officer of Chase Hall Committee. "There are definitely more people showing up drunk than in other years."

Hard alcohol is the norm at these gatherings, and "most people, after three or four shots, can't remember how many they've downed," said Chris Tisdale, director of health services. Students will quickly drink a lot of hard alcohol, before heading to the main party, and Tisdale said that this is a dangerous situation, and the one that most often results in people landing in the hospital with alcohol poisoning.

Tisdale fears that intoxicated people can lack good judgement about whom they are with and where they are. With females especially, safety questions about sexual assault arise.

Tisdale would like to see the student body "drop the level of drinking just a little bit," and for students to be less tolerant of damage done by drunk students -- damage she refers to as "second--hand effects of alcohol."

Tisdale also said that she wants the student body to feel free to come by the Health Center if they've had to much to drink, and to spend the night and not worry about preserving their anonymity.

Students are also concerned about alcohol use on campus. Chris Williams '99 said that there is "egregious consumption of alcohol" on campus, and that people are now not meeting each other. Instead of attending a party of a few hundred students, individuals are drinking in their own small social circles, causing alcohol to lose its effect as a "social lubricant," Williams said.

The policy has "encouraged students to go underground," said Security and Campus Safety Officer Ron Lessard. "Students [would] rather risk getting caught and having the keg and tap confiscated, rather than pay for a caterer."