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THE PHOENIX ~.-. Volume xl Number 2 Western Maryland College September 13, 1990 College Violates Articles, Cannot Rifkin Addresses Freshmen at Receive Alcohol License by Andrea Covington Orientation Colloquium Western Maryland College lost its privilege to apply for one- day beer licenses after the Board of License Commissioners of by Pat Blackman due to heat trapped by increas- can be seen as a whole. living Carroll County found WMC in violation of four different articles Radical environmentalist ing levels of so-called green- being;amacrocosmicorganism. concerning alcohol. according to the written decision handed down .Jeremy Rifkin shook the walls housegassesincludingcommon Hethenmovedtoalengthy by the Board. in Alumni Hall for the incom- industrial pollutants like carbon and intelligent lecture on the The decision said that the college can notrecei veany alcoholic ing first year students on Fri- dioxide. Rifkin described a beverage licenses until December 1. 1990. day.August31. Hewasinvited world where the seas might rise subject of how the typical west- and view facilitates ern world Alcohol will not be banned from public events, but organiza- to speak on the theme of this several feet due to melting polar perpetuates environmental deg- lions who wish to serve alcohol will have to apply for their own radation. Rifkin characterized licenses or give it away, according to Philip R. Sayre. Dean of this world view as objectivistic, Student Affairs. detached, non-intuitive, and According to Ronald Lau, Administrator for the Board of lacking the crucial qualities of License Commissioners. non-profit organizations can apply for a empathy and awareness of all one-day license as long as the actual applicant is21 years of age or things as intrinsically sacred. older, a registered voter, a property owner. and has lived in Carroll In order to critique this County for two years or more. world view,Rifkinexplored the Mitchell Alexander. Director of College Activities. estimated implicationsofsomeofitsbases that the College Activities Programming Board will spend ap- in the ideas of Francis Bacon, proximately $1200 this semester on alcohol to serve free and that John Locke, and Rene Descar- other student groups will spend approximately a "couple thou- tes. sand" combined. Simply put, Rifkin stated According to the decision, the violations wereas follows: false that the ideas of these thinkers statements on license applications, failure of the license applicant and others like them have helped or a listed chairman lO be present at an event, permitting underage tofonnin westemcultureaview individuals to act as bartenders. and pennitting drinkers to carry of nature as mechanistic and alcohol out of a designated facility. reducible by science to hard fact. Philip R. Sayre, Dean of Student Affairs. said that the false He argued that this world statements on license applications occured accidently when he view is therefore based on a de- applied for several licenses at the same time. Dean Sayre listed vestating split between humans himself as sponsor of several events as part of an "umbrella and the environment; the "I" procedure" meant to simplify the application process. Theevents, Colloquium speaker Jeremy Rifkin pboto by jenn Scott and the "not I". He then demon- however, were sponsored by various student groups. year's Orientation, "Will the ice caps, inundating large strated how this split leads to the The Board of License Commissioners also sanctioned the Eanh Survive?" Rifkin, how- amounts of coastal areas and kind of detached perception of college because Dean Sayre was listed as the sponsor but was not ever. chose to leave that ques- swallowing up small islands. the world which causes and sup- at the events. tion unresolved and instead With such descriptions. he ports environmental degrada- The decision also said that WMC allcwedjwo underage men, pointed out that this generation painted a picture of a "green- tion. He did this by using pro- Eric Disharoon. 19 at the time of the violation, and Jeff McAndrew. will provide the crucial thought house world" where the aver- vocative examples, such as a 19at the time of the violation. to serve alcohol. According to Dean and action needed to answer it. age global temperature might comparison between the idea of Sayre. he and Mitchell Alexander, Director of College Activities, Rifkin staned hispresenta- have increased as much as four time in a digital anda traditional thought it was legal to permit individuals who are 18 years of age lion on a negative note with a degrees. watch. oroldertoservcbeerandlightwine. Thelaw,however,wasaltered horrifying projection of what To demonstrate its sever- Overall. Rifkin proposed a in Novemberof last year and prohibits those under21 from serving the Eanh could be like in the _ ity.Rifkin likened this increase more balanced world view with any alcoholic beverage. The college also got in trouble for using year 2025 if action is not taken to an equally deadly increase in science and reason on the one the term "bartender:' which implies serving hard liquor. to halt what some call "global an individual's body tempera- hand tempered by empathy and The fourth violation. pennitting alcohol to leave a designated warming"; anoverallriseinthe ture. Along those lines, he intuitive spirituality on the other. facility. occurred on March 9, of the out that itself Reaction tothe lecture was, 1990. Officer Beverly of course. mixed. A series of in- McGough, of the Department formal interviews with students of Campus Safety. saw several and faculty present at the talkre- people leave a Forum party vealed a variety of opinions. carrying alcohol, the decision ManypeoplefeltthatRifkin said. was science-bashing, even WMC intends to review its though he openly admitted to a internal procedures for events necessityforthescientific world involving alcohol, according to view. Dean Sayre. Little is definite, Others felt more comfort- but possibilities include desig- able with his political/philo- nated drinking areas,restricting sophical approach to environ- the quantity of alcohol at events, mental degradation. and requiring sponsoring organi- At any rate, it is clear that zations to hire off-duty police Rifkin succeeded in stirring up officers for security. One change some thought and feeling about that already has occurred is the critical environmental issues on age requirement for campus bar- campus. tenders, who must now be 21. Dean Sayre said the col- lege will be "trying to develop Freshmen React Favorably to Orientation some policies which are very by Meeghan Ziolkowski and the environmental theme for people to get to know each faculty interaction is needed. strict" since the local govern- A question inevitably rises was interesting and relevant other. Theactivitiesplannedtodothis, ment seems to be leaning to- is the minds of all of us who The ASE Course (a team- A popular suggestion was such as a dinner and convoca- wards more stringent enforce- have encountered WMC's ori- oriented obstacle course) was to have more activities that in- lion/welcoming, actually were ment of drug and alcohol laws. entation program: Is it worth- considered one of the highlights volvedmanyorientationgroups more distancing with the fac- WMC's new procedures will while? This year's orientees of the four days. Itwasachance such as a softball. frisbee. or ultyevensiltingseparatelyfrom need the approval of the Board seem to think so. A cross-sec- to meet more people in an ec- touch football game. or even an the students. (Any professors of License Commissioners. non of first-year students re- tive.ron-academlc seuing. En- Orientation Olympics. ready to take the ASE course?) Alexander supports apply- spondedthatdespitesomeprob- ergeuc teamwork was gener- Such events are an excel- Also, it may be helpful to in- ing for liquor licenses again as lems, orientation was a success: ally preferred to the lectures. It lent way to foster community valve returning students. Hav- soon as December 1 arrives but the orientation groups facilitated was one of me only times to get spirit by eliminating distance ing to face three-quaners of the also hopes thargroups "will give meeting people, tile activities together and interact as a class. and awkwardness between student body on Monday mom- more merit to programming were a fun way to adjust lO col- Other class activities, such as people. ing with no introduction isjusra without alcohol." legeandgetovcrhomcsickness, seeing a play, were too passive In addition. more student Continued on page 2