From the Executive Editor’s Desk: Age difference is big on pub night

By Laura Mortkowitz

It doesn’t sound very fun to wait in line for hours and then cram into a tiny room with approximately 150 people, yet every Thursday night that’s what many students on campus do to experience a night at the Pub.

It makes sense that the Pub is so crowded. At the end of the week, students want to unwind and relax with a beer in a social setting. The Rider campus isn’t exactly Rutgers, sprawled along streets filled with restaurants and college bars, so the Pub is really the best thing on campus at night.

Normally, the crowding wouldn’t be a problem and no one would really be able to complain, except 21-year-olds don’t get the chance to experience the Pub when 18-year-olds are already inside.

In response to frustrated seniors who sometimes wait hours and never make it into the Pub, the Student Government Association raised the issue at the last Senate meeting. Although the members are brainstorming different ideas and won’t make a decision until Tuesday, one idea was that the Pub raise the age requirement to 21.

This would mean that anyone under the age of 21 would no longer get to enjoy the Pub in any capacity. Understandably, this would cause an outcry from students who are denied access to the campus’s only social venue that late at night.

Yet, it makes sense, doesn’t it? What possible purpose is there for someone who is unable to drink to spend time at a venue specifically created for drinking? It’s almost like daring the students to get drinks sneaked to them by legal friends. Assuming no one is able to sneak drinks thanks to the vigilance of Public Safety: What are those students doing at the Pub? Are they just hanging out? If so, that can be done at any of the residence halls and you wouldn’t have to worry about the 149 other people, most of whom you don’t know and are getting drunk, occupying the space.

True, there are nights when no one under 21 is allowed in the Pub, but Thursday night is the most popular night of the week. But right now 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds are in the Pub while the 21-year-olds are standing in line waiting for someone to leave. That doesn’t seem right or fair.

For those who have never been to the Pub, only 150 people can be inside at a time and everyone else has to wait in line. The people who are standing around outside can’t go in until someone comes out. If someone inside the Pub leaves to go to the bathroom, they leave their ID with Public Safety to hold their spot inside. So even though someone has left the Pub, no one else can go in.

My enthusiasm for the age limit being raised to 21 has nothing to do with me being 21 and everything to do with me not understanding what someone under 21 can do inside for fun. The way things are now ruins the Pub experience for the people it was actually established for.

It may annoy them now, but by the time those who are underage turn 21, they’ll appreciate it when they can get into the Pub quickly and spend time with people who are all their age.