On last week’s front page a short story appeared about a DU student charged with vehicular homicide and a DUI.

That event got me thinking about a few things, and it’s prompted me to think that the policies here on campus need to be re-evaluated.

It’s time for the administration of DU to wake up and smell the coffee.

I know this may come as a tremendous shock so brace yourselves, but students in college drink alcohol! And nothing you do – no thing – is going to stop it.

Policies need to be designed with this core idea as a central tenet, not a possibility the university would rather ignore.

DU isn’t a dry campus, but it seems the administration would like to pretend it is.

Carl Johnson, director of Student Programs/Greek Life, said, “As part of the Greek Life Strategic Plan of 2000, all sorority and fraternity houses banned alcohol in the common area. This plan was signed off on by the University of Denver, the local advisors and the national organization of each chapter.”

After this, all organizations on campus were required to abide by this closed door alcohol policy.

DU is not, in any way, shape or form a dry campus. That doesn’t mean that you are free to consume alcohol anywhere you wish, however.

DU doesn’t allow students to have alcohol around in public places.

However, if you are of legal drinking age, you can drink behind closed doors. This policy is true in residence halls and Greek houses.

But that doesn’t really do anything to solve the problem, does it? Again, the point here is not to bad-mouth Greek organizations but to make statements about the policy at DU.

It’s very common for DU students to head to parties off campus, whether they’re at a nearby house, in the bars or even in Boulder.

Based on this, I have a hard time believing that there’s not a lot of drunk driving going on around here on the weekends.

In fact, the policy to send busses from the art building to sanctioned off-campus parties implies that DU and Greek organizations know that drunk driving exists and the bus rides attempt to stem that trend.

The Sidelines Pub in the Driscoll Student Center allows students to purchase beer with valid forms of identification. Clearly then, the university does not have any particular conflict about serving alcohol to students who are of age.

So instead of trying to hide drinking and see it as something that never happens, why not create an atmosphere where students can drink safely?

Ultimately, what did this policy accomplish?

It has ended parties on weekends at fraternities, clubs or by other organizations.

This policy has driven parties where alcohol is served off campus.

And because of this it has probably increased alcohol related incidents.

If the administration does not (or for legal reasons simply can not) trust students to self-regulate their own parties, then why not send a member of Campus Safety to check identification at the door?

This wouldn’t have to happen in the fraternity houses; any on-campus location could hold a safe, well-regulated, monitored and sanctioned party.

The question of how to get intoxicated students home is a problem for everyone across campus.

And more than that, I feel that it is a problem for people who aren’t part of the university community either.

Full information about last week’s accident isn’t available as of yet, but this isn’t just a DU issue about DU students.

This is an issue for all the people who live in close proximity to the university as well. They, too, are at risk.

We have to respect our community that surrounds our little world here and make sure we consider the consequences for them of whatever policies we choose to enact.

“I believe that students make good choices as a rule,” Johnson said. “We work hard to educate students on the many consequences of alcohol consumption including drinking and driving accidents.”

This is a great start. But I think it’s clear that we’re not doing enough.

I know this is a conundrum. I know underage drinking is not something we can just turn a blind eye to and certainly not something we can endorse or allow in any way.

We’ve got to find a policy that addresses the real issues.

If an organization, a fraternity or just a group of people want to host a sanctioned and monitored party on campus, the administration should accomodate that request in order to keep students and the community safe.