Editorial

One Word: Beer

Beer crosses all boundaries. Students and professors drink beer. Men and women drink beer. All races drink beer. It is the glue which holds the University together. The University should have a brew-pub. The Erb Memorial Union (EMU) received funds from the Oregon State System of Higher Education this year to renovate and build. The EMU received funds to make itself better. A meeting place for everyone, something everyone could enjoy, is needed. A brew-pub is such a place.

The EMU has considered this before. The main concerns are the placement of the pub inside the EMU, the liability, the sponsorship, and its effect on the University's drug and alchohol policy.

The placement of the pub is a simple matter. The biggest waste of space, besides the International Sleeping Lounge, is the bowling alley. "About 30 people a day bowl," one attendant said, "and that's being generous." The University also offers a bowling class, but a bartending class would probably garner many more tuition dollars.

The other advantage of placing the pub where the bowling alley currently stagnates, is its proximity to the billiard room, arcade and the rest of campus. Students can smoke in the billiard room already, and Pac-Man is a great drinking game. At the center of students' lives is the University. At the center of the University is the EMU. There is no better place for a person to walk home from than the center of the University.

The liability is the most difficult issue. Bartenders can be sued if they show negligence by not cutting a person off and letting them drive home. As an employer, the University, not the bartender, would be liable. The EMU would have to create a policy releasing itself from liability in the event of drunken stupidity.

An argument against the pub in the EMU is its violation of the University's drug and alchohol policy. Were this argument valid, the University would have to shut down the Collier House and the Friday Beer Gardens.

The second greatest obstacle is knowledge about the viability of such an undertaking. The EMU is concerned with the fiscal impact. In order to lessen the impact, a large brewery sponsorship is needed.

According to Jen Williamson, ASUO president, a professional firm must visit the site and look at the architecture of the building to make sure it is structurally sound. Assuming that it is, research will then be needed to see if there is interest in the pub. It seems obvious that there will be.

The problem isn't getting the research done. The problem is paying for it. $10,000 according to Williamson. The EMU won't shell out that kind of money without some front-end, informal research.

This is where proactive behavior by students is a must. The ASUO has a drop box in Suite Four for interest forms. The Oregon Commentator prints advertisements in support of the brewery. Expect to see a ballot measure or some sort of interest poll in January during a special election. The ASUO, the OC, and the Institute for Beverage Studies all have links on the World Wide Web to voice support for the EMU pub.

From there, the EMU will seek out a brewery to sponsor the University's new pub. Oregon has a surplus of fairly large breweries: Blitz-Weinhard, Black Butte, Rogue, Nor' Wester and Deschutes. To appeal to international tastes perhaps the University should even try to persuade Guiness to look lovingly upon this fine institution.

To look into the future a bit, imagine the fun of naming some of the beers or ales if the University had a brewery: Duck (the) Draft, named for Bill Clinton; and Dark Duck, a hearty dark beer for thick-necked Ducks named Matilda. The possibilities are endless.

A pub in the EMU would bring many elements of this campus into one rumpus room. Beer, beer, beer.