In the article UNH assistent vice president for business affairs David May was quoted as saying "Just recently, there was an incident on campus involving energy drinks that helped send a student to the hospital." Listen David, it wasn't the energy drink and it wasn't even the alcohol that sent a student to the hospital. It was the student who didn't know how to handle his or her own drinking. Every weekend hundreds of UNH students use energy drinks with alcohol and one person has a few too many and now we're all punished? This is group punishment because of one person's mistake.
So go ahead and take away all the Red Bulls from the UNH dining stores, but students are not going to stop drinking. And there will still be cases of students having to go to the hospital. It happens. This is college and you're only hurting students in the long run. You are taking away our ability to make our own decisions and sometimes people need to learn from their mistakes. Stupid kids aren't going to learn if you never give them the chance. Isn't college supposed to prepare us for the real world? Or are people going to be making decisions for me the rest of my life?
The article continued:
UNH said its plan to remove energy drinks is part of its mission to be the healthiest campus community in the country by 2020. Dining halls have eliminated trans fats from food, removed salt shakers from tables and reduced sodium in many recipes. Officials are also studying how to reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup that’s served.So they are giving two reasons for this. Healthy eating and alcohol mixing... oh, by the way, I'm so happy I won't be having to eat here in 2020. Sounds like the dining halls are gonna be gross.
It's a legal liability move, it has to be. If there was an incident on campus recently that involved a product sold at UNH, I'm guessing the university's lawyers told administration to spike the drinks.
ReplyDeleteAs you noted, UNH Dining isn't the cheapest supplier of the drinks, so they probably don't see much profit off it anyway.
So they remove the drink, don't take a hit on profit, remove the chance of getting sued when someone crashes their car after one too many Red Bull Vodkas made with UNH supplied drinks AND get a PR boost by increasing their cred as a "healthy" campus.
What are the cons? You and TNH will complain about the nanny stating, some dining flak is going to go before Student Senate ... and that's about it. The pros have it.
I hear Coke is an excellent mixer... UNH dining should take that out of dining as well...
ReplyDeleteso then why does wild kitty sell ping pong balls? not complaining, just sayin...
ReplyDeletePlus, (like Jill said) Gables convenience sells ping pong balls RIGHT next to the bags of solo cups. What do you think they're implying there?
ReplyDeleteIf you take one thing down, you gotta take them all down. You can't pick and choose.
You can say they sell ping pong balls for recreational use, like ping pong (duh). But we all know why we buy them - and so does the school. They just don't want to admit it.
Same goes for the Red Bull. Yeah, kids buy them just to drink for late night sessions at Dimond. Yeah, kids also buy them to mix with alcohol.
It's impossible to stop. That's why it's all or nothing in my opinion. It's just getting out of hand
But this story is not about stopping drinking. It's about the university's refusal to sell a product it believes makes the drinking experience dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThere are few people that will say that Coke, ping-pong balls and cups make drinking more dangerous. But funnels, beer balls, caffeinated mixers and other things that encourage binge drinking? Different story...
So you're saying ban ALL soda from the campus too? Where will it end?
ReplyDeletehuddleston is stalling it because he needs more information. hollaaaa
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone freaking out over this? It's not a BAN on energy drinks, they're just not going to sell them on campus anymore. Any store has the right to stop selling a product for any reason they want; as much as most college kids want to deny it, a university is subject to the same rules and laws as the rest of the state.
ReplyDeleteAlcohol isn't banned at UNH but they don't sell it on campus. And to the people saying selling solo cups and ping pong balls is equivalent to supporting drinking...seriously? Those products are only drinking accessories because we make it that way. That's like saying selling lighters supports arson.
The real issue here is the fact that college students want to be treated with respect and be allowed to make their own choices. I don't think that will happen until students stop viewing college as a fun place to hang out for 4 years before they grow up. Honestly, think about it from their perspective: would you trust us with all the freedom we want, knowing everything illegal, irresponsible, and immature that happens on campus?
^ Hey Debbie Downer, quit wasting your time on this blog and get back to studying.
ReplyDelete^bahahahaha comments like that prove the point of the dude or chick being called debbie downer. grow up kids you can still get your red bull downtown geeeez
ReplyDelete"Alcohol isn't banned at UNH but they don't sell it on campus. And to the people saying selling solo cups and ping pong balls is equivalent to supporting drinking...seriously? Those products are only drinking accessories because we make it that way. That's like saying selling lighters supports arson."
ReplyDeleteDo they sell lighters next to rags, bottles, and gasoline to promote Molotov cocktails too?
THIS IS BLASPHEMY!!!
ReplyDelete”There are few people that will say that Coke, ping-pong balls and cups make drinking more dangerous. But funnels, beer balls, caffeinated mixers and other things that encourage binge drinking? Different story...“
ReplyDeleteIf we're going with the idea that Solo Cups and ping pong balls are there as a subtle, albeit unspoken endorsement of the Gables drinking culture, I'd then argue that Beirut and Chandeliers (or Fun Cup or whatever you damn kids call it), or any other number of ping pong ball-based drinking games also encourage binge drinking.
And don't even try to give me that "a lot of people play with water" bullshit. I went to college too. No one plays Beirut for the fucking sport of it.
@Anonymous 1:33
ReplyDeleteMeh, a game a beer pong amounts to what, a pitcher between two people? Factor in length of game and number of rotations at the table, and I think it's pretty hard to reach binge-drinking levels playing just beer pong.
Now, the guy that comes to my beer pong party after pregaming on Eyeopeners, can't feel how drunk he is, steals a six-pack out of my fridge and shotguns them over my kitchen sink. He's the problem at UNH. If the school wants to cut that guy off at the pass by limiting his access to energy drinks, fine by me. Even better, limit pregaming by "encouraging" open door policies on Friday and Saturday evenings in the dorms and requiring sign-ins in all the dorms.
I still believe the university cares less about if you drink, and more about being sued because they enabled someone to drink dangerously.
in regards to their healthy eating by 2020..looks like they're heading in the right direction... via facebook:
ReplyDelete"UNH Dining -
The only place you can find a cheeseburger served on a donut is at Stillings Hall tomorrow night at the State Fair dinner! Don't miss it!"
definitely on the right track...