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A Ban on Selling Alcohol in University: What Should We Do?
  • 원유훈 수습기자
  • 등록 2018-09-14 13:10:28
  • 수정 2018-09-14 13:11:53
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 It is not too much to say that the flowers of the university festival are the bars. University students enjoy their festivals in part because of the availability of alcoholic beverages. However, the ban on alcohol sales caused many advantages and disadvantages in May 2018. In particular, students' enjoyment was limited and students' complaints were heard due to the absence of bars, which are the flowers of the festival. Therefore, why did the Education Ministry make that decision, and how will the ban affect university festivals in the future? Let’s find out what the effect is and what the shape of our university festival is after the enforcement of the ban.

 

       

 

 In May 2018, the Education Ministry sent an official document stating that they would give a fine for running bars to the students of all universities. The reason why university bars are illegal is that it is illegal under the current law, and selling alcohol without an alcohol sales license is illegal. If you sell alcohol without an alcohol sales license, you can be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison or 30 million won in fines. However, typically, alcohol wholesalers who sold alcohol to the student council were only given administrative punishment such as imposing fines and students were not punished at all. Then last year, after punishing the student council students for selling alcohol without permission at the Inha University Festival, a controversy arose. It was pointed out that the treatment was unfair because the alcohol wholesalers were punished but not the student council which ran the bar. It was also pointed out that it was not fair to punish only Inha University without cracking down on all universities. Considering the cases involving the sale of alcohol, such as the Inha University incident, the National Tax Service sent an official document to the Education Ministry that requested cooperation so that people would not be fined for violating liquor tax law during university festivals. The Education Ministry then sent this official document to universities all over the country. As a result, students are unable to see alcohol at all universities' current festivals.

 


 Then, what are the positive and negative aspects of the university festival alcohol sales prohibition? First of all, the positive aspects are that we can reduce the excessive drinking incidents and concentrate more on other features of festival culture such as food trucks and various experience programs. Also, it may be that students seeking to study in university will be less frequently disturbed by students who drink. On the negative side, students earned department and club operation funds through running bars, but now it is difficult to raise the funds due to the ban on the sale of alcohol at festivals. Also, it is not a problem to buy and bring alcohol to the school because though selling alcohol is prohibited, consuming alcohol is not prohibited. After all, the reality of the university festival is that it only prohibits the sale of alcohol, not consumption.

 

After the law banning selling liquor was introduced, the Pharos did a survey to find out what students think about that law and what effect it has on them. According to the survey, 26 percent of the students regarded the law positively, while 73 percent of students had a negative opinion, an overwhelmingly high dissatisfaction rate. First, the opinions of most of the students who thought positively were that the law can keep students from having accidents due to alcohol consumption, and it will encourage students to enjoy the festival in other ways without drinking liquor. Actually, many accidents caused by liquor consumption in universities have been reported, and through the introduction of this law, we can prevent many accidents and injuries. In addition, they insisted that it is better for members of department or clubs to operate booths focusing on various contents that appeal to students instead of selling alcohol. On the opposite side, most students who thought negatively responded that the law destroys the existing culture of universities and ignores students who are hosts and participants of the festivals. Many students plan the festival activities and enjoy them, so students insisted that infringing on students’ entertainment choices and freedom is a negative consequence of the law. Also, although the law prohibits the sale of liquor, it is not against the law to buy liquor outside the university and bring it and provide it for free, so they said the law is useless.

  

 



 Now that liquor sales and bars are prohibited in universities, it is natural that festivals will change accordingly. People who enjoyed drinking liquor in a festival will have to figure out alternatives. Actually, a university festival in Seoul created a “No alcohol bar” due to the banning of alcohol. The bar only sold various dishes and students brought alcohol and drinks to the bar. Another way is to run food trucks that sell various types of food or have clubs operate diverse booths. By doing these things, festivals will create a more interesting and safer culture than the existing culture and prevent some accidents. According to the law, we should promote a healthy and enjoyable culture which everyone can appreciate instead of an alcohol-dependent culture. Especially, students should recognize not only the disadvantages but also the advantages of the law, and they should develop a safe and joyful festival.

 

71st Cub ReporterWON YOOHUNdnjsdbgns123@naver.com

71st Cub ReporterKIM JINcoo0714@naver.com

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