Poor student behavior has led to a moratorium on bar buses meaning students at Rochester must find alternate transportation for nights on the town. Photo by Cheryl Seligman.

Safety and fun are two words that are sometimes, unfortunately, difficult to marry. While having fun, college students constantly bend and break rules, jeopardizing their own safety and the safety of others, especially when under the influence of alcohol.

At the University of Rochester, Dean of Students Matthew Burns recently directed Associate Dean of Students Anne-Marie Algier via email to suspend all “bar buses,” the buses that student groups can reserve for off-campus bar events.

According to the email, “a careful and thorough review of the process by which we have utilized ‘bar buses’ and the problems and incidents associated with this process (and especially student misconduct during this process)” prompted the moratorium.

Put into effect last November, the moratorium is not the first that Rochester students have endured. Student misconduct in 2008, including incidents involving a knife, vomiting and overcrowding on buses, called for the formation of the Off-Campus Events and Bar Committee.

The committee reviews requests for restricted (invite needed) and unrestricted (no invite needed) bar parties – events held at bars by university groups. The committee also assesses the preparedness and staffing needs associated with each request.

Students’ Association President Bradley Halpern, a senior, said in a message to the student body that Burns’ decision is less about bar buses themselves, and more about “an overdue culture change that is necessary to address issues on which we all agree.”

“We all want to live in a community where every student can have fun -– with and without alcohol — but the fun stops when someone gets hurt,” said Halpern.

To disagree with Halpern’s statement is a difficult and unproductive task. That being said, the administration has seemingly failed to realize that its decision does not heighten students’ safety, but rather jeopardizes it.

The moratorium is not permanent and Burns asked Algier and the committee to recommend changes to the process by which bar buses are used. But in the meantime, students do not have a safe and convenient way to travel to their off-campus events. Planning a better system can easily occur without a moratorium in a safer process than the current one: no system at all. A number of concerns addressing everyone’s safety now surround the lack of bar buses.

Many college students live on a tight budget. Thus, avoiding expenses is a priority and taxis can be pricey. Still, students will go to bars for various reasons, including unwinding after a long week of challenging classes, spending time with their friends, and meeting new people, the last of which is particularly difficult if stuck on campus.

With transportation that is free-of-charge, namely the bar buses, students traveled safely to and from their destination without dipping into their limited funds. While the organization sponsoring the event paid for the bar buses, the attendees received rides for free.

Electing a designated driver becomes the most cost-effective option in the absence of bar buses, but rarely does anybody jump at that opportunity, as, theoretically, the driver-elect is stone-cold sober in a sea of tipsy or drunk friends. Therefore, the designated driver may test sobriety limits, know his or her tolerance and have a drink or two.

While under the influence of alcohol, even a small amount, the designated driver puts everyone at risk. The best way to keep drunken college drivers off the roads is to provide them with an option that is just as convenient (if not more) and cost-effective for the student. The bar buses allowed everyone to drink as little or as much as they desired because a designated driver was not necessary.

Additionally, the bar buses promoted safety by offering a trustworthy and definite mode of transportation. Students knew exactly how and when they were moving from place to place. Uncertainty about such matters causes stress and chaos, particularly when under the influence of alcohol. The bar buses effectively eliminated that pandemonium.

To avoid stressful situations, students may feel inclined to stay on campus and exercise their drinking in dorms. This only encourages the exact opposite of what the university should want: on-campus, underage drinking in unsanctioned locations. The consumption of alcohol is not merely allowed in bars, it is welcomed. There will never be a next-door neighbor unable to sleep when drinking occurs in a bar instead of a dorm room.

While Rochester’s review of bar party requests by the Off-Campus Events and Bar Committee is unique to the school, there is an underlying structure that other schools should admire. The system, before the moratorium on bar buses, allowed for safety in transportation, safety in convenience, and safety in location. The far less admirable action is indefinitely suspending that safety.

“The incidents and considerations factoring into the Dean’s decision to withhold ‘bar buses’ are topics on which most of us agree; this wasn’t about appropriate social drinking or the ‘bar atmosphere,’” said Halpern.

He further explained that risk management had reached a very high level which warranted fear of what could happen should reckless behavior escalate further. Halpern said that he would not want to wait to learn from a tragedy that could have been prevented.

Students agree that risk management is a cause for concern and preventing tragedies is of the utmost importance. However, to prevent reckless behavior from escalating any further, the administration should not indefinitely suspend what is currently the safest mode of transportation to bar parties. Students are likely to welcome change that is in their best interest, but meanwhile, the moratorium on bar buses puts everyone at greater risk.

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