‘Like’ senior Wren Weichman’s semifinalist video Living, page 7
How UP’s grounds have changed over the years Living, pages 8-9
The
Vol. 112, Issue 22
BEACON The University of Portland’s student newspaper
Thursday April 7, 2011 www.upbeacon.net
Binge drinking leads to dance changes
Photo illustration by Alexander Domingo | THE BEACON Pilot House photo by John Suttion
New dance policies require all students to be breathalyzed before the Dance of the Decades next year Sarah Hansell Staff Writer hansell14@up.edu Binge drinking problems at the Dance of the Decades have triggered major changes to UP’s dance policies: Every student will be breathalyzed before being allowed to board the bus to the dance. Every student who wants to go to a UP dance must take the bus and next year’s homecoming dance has been canceled replaced
with a concert featuring a “major” performer to act as next year’s homecoming event. The binge drinking that went on before and during the Dance of the Decades on Jan. 29 caused three students to be hospitalized, one taken to a detoxification facility by the Portland Police, three sent back to campus and five minor in possession citations. Campus Program Board (CPB), Public Safety, ASUP, Student Activities and Residence Life decided to take action to
prevent similar problems in the future. “We all just kind of discussed what the issues were and how to prevent it without destroying CPB’s function of providing entertainment that is safe and fun,” CPB Director Hillary White, a junior, said. They decided to require all students to be breathalyzed on campus before boarding the bus to dances. Students under 21 must have a blood alcohol level of zero percent, and students 21 and
over must have a blood alcohol level no higher than 0.08 percent, though that number is subject to change. “That was actually a number that Harold (Burke-Sivers, the director of Public Safety) threw out,” White said. “I think that number may be up to be changed.” Students who blow above these limits will not be allowed to See Dance, page 5
Hillary White CPB Director
Of Senate and schedules
ASUP vice president-elect juggles conflict between required class and weekly Senate meetings Elizabeth Vogel Staff Writer vogel11@up.edu Registration is stressful for everyone, but scheduling has been especially stressful for Vice President-elect junior Chloe’ Ruffin. Ruffin is an education major, and all seniors in the School of Education are required to take a seminar course in the spring semester. There are four sections of this course, but they are all held on Mondays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. This class is held at the same time as the weekly Senate meetings are held, which the vice president is in charge of running. Ruffin said she did not know
about this conflict when she decided to run for ASUP vice president. “I wouldn’t have spent a month campaigning without making sure this was resolved first,” she said. She informed the Director of Student Activities Jeromy Koffler the week after spring break. “My first recommendation was to see if she could talk to her academic adviser,” Koffler said. Ruffin worked with the School Jeromy Koffler of Education Director of to take the Student Activites seminar class
as an independent study. “Very graciously, the School of Education is doing all it can to make sure I can receive the best education and serve in this leadership position,” she said. Had she not been able to change her class schedule, Ruffin may have had to resign from her position second semester, according to Koffler. He said ASUP officers have had to resign in the past due to illness or early graduation, but never because of a class conflict. “It put a hardship on the group, some of them ended up doing multiple roles,” Koffler said. See ASUP, page 4
Alissa White | THE BEACON
ASUP Vice President-elect Chloe Ruffin