Although College administrators have said there are flaws in the new alcohol policy, they do not plan to revise the policy until Spring term at the earliest.
Administrators and Greek system leaders said the formula used to calculate how many kegs should be allowed on campus does not always work. For example, if every Greek house had a party on one night, there could theoretically be many more kegs on campus than the policy should allow.
But they said that the new policy does have the desired effect of reducing drinking on campus.
Any change in the total number of students on campus changes the figures used in the keg formula, which ORL uses to determine how many kegs of beer a Greek house can purchase for a party.
The most obvious flaw in the policy is that although there are a limited number of Greek organizations --14 fraternities, six sororities, and three co-ed houses -- on campus, there is no cap on the number of kegs allowed on campus in a single night.
Of the 3,746 undergraduates enrolled this term, 965 are 21. The policy was intended to provide for one beer per hour per 21-year-old.
In terms of alcohol supply, ORL limits parties to five hours. If each student of legal drinking age went out on a single night, there should not be more than 29 kegs on campus, according to the ORL formula.
"It's kind of a very stretchy formula to begin with," said Guy Harrison '94, president of the Interfraternity Council. "The formula only gives you the bare minimum" of details.
Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders said it would be possible for more kegs to be on campus than the formula is supposed to permit. That means students of legal drinking age could have more than one beer an hour, but Reinders said "I am not sure that there will be so many kegs out there."
"If the goal is to limit the amount of alcohol to one beer per person per hour, it is not working as well as it should be," said Mark Daly '94, president of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council.
"If the goal is to reduce the amount of alcohol people are drinking, it is working," he said.
Reinders said ORL needs to collect data from event registration forms and roving monitor evaluations over the next three terms before it can evaluate the policy.
"I've got to get the data first before we revise," Reinders said, "and I am not even sure we will need to revise the policy."
Although an alcohol policy review committee will not be formed until the spring, the IFC and the CFSC are instituting stricter student monitoring of parties.
Last week Harrison trained 15 men and women who will monitor parties and taught them about the CFS Social Events Procedures. He also explained the duties of roving monitors, who spot-check Greek parties to make sure regulations are being followed.
"We're getting more stringent," Daly said. "We're trying to add more formality to the process by paying monitors and by training them better."
Monitors are paid $8 an hour for the duration of a registered party. Beginning this term, they are required to check Greek houses twice a night rather than once.
