Underage students haven’t violated the AMS’s revamped All-Ages-Access program since it began in September, according to Head Student Constable Sean Kershaw and AMS VP (Operations) Ian Black. “I can’t think of single one this school year,” Kershaw said.
This year’s AMS executive campaigned to bring back the program, which allowed students to go to events on campus and in the community if they were younger than 19, albeit with a few changes that addressed past problems.
Last year’s program was cancelled in January 2006 because Bruce Griffiths, holder of the University’s liquor licence, said there were a disproportional number of violations compared to the number of underage students participating in the program – 12 violations from September 2005 to January 2006.
Griffiths was unavailable for comment for this article.
Kershaw said the new policies regarding the new program make all-ages events much easier for StuCons and campus bar staff.
Last year, underage students who wanted access to all-ages events received a sticker for their student card after they filled out a contract that said, among other things, that they were not to consumer alcohol during the event, and that they had to leave their student cards at the door.
If they forgot to pick up their student card at the end of the night, even if they didn’t consumer any alcohol, they would be violating their contract.
Now, students don’t get penalized for forgetting to pick up their cards at the end of the evening; StuCons at the event only take the student cards of underage students to keep track of underage students in attendance.
“We aren’t blaming the student if they left it,” Kershaw said.
In addition, student groups who want to run an all-ages event have to fill out a form accessible through the AMS website.
A point system allows Black to determine whether an event is low, medium or high risk. “With the old system, so long as you had a sticker, you could get in,” Black said, adding that new system which is centered on reviewing the event itself before it is held.
Black said the change in the system to review events before they are held has removed a source of tension.
“There are quite a few all-ages events,” Black said, adding that he expects over time people will eventually begin to focus on the event itself as opposed to solely alcohol consumption.
Kimberley Ellis, ArtSci ’10, finds the new all-ages policy limiting at times, but she appreciates its existence.
“There’s a division between the different years because of drinking laws, so this allows for more interaction between the years,” she said.
Kershaw said concerts are typically deemed to be high risk because there’s a large focus on drinking, as opposed to other events such as art shows and fundraisers, which are more likely to be permitted to all ages.
For Caitlin Ellison, ArtSci ’10, this means she can’t get in to the concerts she wants to see.
“It seems like all the concerts are age of majority, which really sucks,” she said.
In terms of distinguishing between those of legal drinking age and underage students, the system is still the same.
“We use the wristband and X system,” Kershaw said.
Wristbands are given to those who are 19 or older, and an X is drawn on the hands of those who are not.
It is against the rules to remove these wristbands or erase the Xs during a student’s stay at the event.
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