Lack of bartenders could spell doom for kegs

A dearth of University-approved bartenders willing to take personal liability for underage, intoxicated students could soon result in the disappearance of kegs from campus social events.

The University's alcohol policy dictates that only an approved bartender can distribute beer from a keg to students over 21. Last year, 15 such bartenders were registered; this year, only three remain.

"We just need to realize that this is the problem, and it's not getting any better," said Joe Pietrantoni, associate vice president for auxiliary services. "We're getting more and more bartenders saying that no matter how high the paycheck is-even if it's significantly higher-they aren't willing to do it."

At an alcohol policy review committee meeting Monday morning held to discuss Duke Student Government's beer on food points proposal (see related story, pg. 1), conversation quickly turned to the continuous challenges posed by alcohol distribution on campus.

The most pressing problem, said Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president of student affairs, is the reluctance of an increasing number of University-approved bartenders to take on the challenges routinely posed by underage students determined to acquire alcohol.

Officials have tentatively scheduled a Nov. 4 open forum at Devil's Den, at which they hope students will voice their own concerns and discuss possible solutions.

In the meantime, the bartender's liability is the key issue: Although bartenders are required to be University-certified, the individual servers-not the University-are liable for students' behavior. Wasiolek said most have already quit and the remainder are hesitant to continue.

"[Bartenders] recognize that they are legally liable individually," she said, "and they don't want that responsibility."

Each of these dilemmas, coupled with complaints from several bus drivers about unruly late-night behavior and vomiting students on their buses, have led officials to begin scrutinizing beer distribution from kegs.

Now, the challenge of finding solutions has been passed from bartenders to University administrators.

Pietrantoni said administrators are willing to keep kegs if they can improve the monitoring system. One possibility, he said, is to assign designated students and administrators to help bartenders and the Duke University Police Department monitor events.

"The issue is being able to serve people in a way that the bartender can keep track of who's getting what," Pietrantoni explained. "It's an item that the bartenders keep telling us is impossible because they're having a hard enough time just carding someone."

If kegs are indeed eliminated, however, administrators are already searching for alternative methods by which students can obtain alcohol.

Beer on points at eateries such as the Cambridge Inn and the Rathskeller is one possibility, said Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst. Although he said he acknowledges that this alternative may not compare favorably with the current arrangement, Wulforst said the administration is doing its best to resolve reasonably the problems that have arisen.

Trinity senior Jason Barclay, Duke Student Government chief of staff, said DSG had anticipated the move away from kegs. The solution, he said, to the "the imminent issue" of alcohol distribution is the beer on points proposal regarding the Devil's Den.

Without this proposal, Barclay continued, purchasing beer on points at campus eateries might not have been an option the administration would have been willing to consider.