Most of the Starkville city leadership seems to view partying (read: drinking) as something to be punished. In their zealousness to place restrictions on the sale of alcohol, they might have even broken state law. Meanwhile, Starkville restaurants, bars and stores are denied potential income. More importantly, student life at Mississippi State suffers because, regarding alcohol-related issues, a few city leaders have their heads in the sand. A little honesty on the alcohol issue would go a long way. College students like to party. This has been true since Oxford opened its doors in 1096. It doesn’t matter whether they’re at a big, small, public, private, elite or religious school. It’s a given that some college students like to indulge in mindless debauchery.
What’s more, partying isn’t a bad thing. Local merchants make money and students enjoy losing a few inhibitions and letting off some steam.
We should encourage a lively and fun atmosphere, not stifle it. Partying should be a big part of student life, something that isn’t exactly hopping at MSU. The party scene is a big issue to many high school students when they are deciding where to go to college. I think it’s a sad commentary on life in Starkville that so many students go home every weekend. I wonder how many students have rejected MSU because of our reputation as the largest commuter school in the state.
So the real question is, how can MSU and city leadership ensure that partying is safe for both the students and the citizens? There are two areas that must be addressed: safety at the bar and getting people safely home from the bar.
Most Starkville establishments do a good job of the former. The second issue is more difficult. However, some creative solutions could do wonders in reducing the number of DUI arrests in Bad Dawgs. Why doesn’t the Starkville city leadership team up with the university and put the shuttle buses to good use by using them to ferry students home? By setting a few stops in the areas of town where a high density of students live (including MSU dorms), many potential drunken drivers could be taken off the road. I think the expense of running them from midnight to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays would be well worth it. Students could have their fun without worrying about getting a ride and everyone else wouldn’t have to worry about so many drunks being on the roads.
Of course, when city leadership isn’t even forward-thinking enough to put sidewalks in areas where a lot of students live (College Station, Little London, and the Lynn Street area to name a few), I’m not optimistic about them finding a worthwhile solution.
It seems that the leadership would rather pass laws that encourage inconvenience and student arrests.
Meanwhile, people keep partying after midnight at house parties that lack the safety measures of the bars, Bad Dawgs reports the weekend’s DUIs on Tuesday and the alcohol issue remains unresolved. And that is to no one’s benefit.