9 September 2008 810 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

As freshers’ week rapidly approaches and students make their way to a new city to get settled into student life before the term commences, the nightclub industry gears up for a week of hard core partying. For the student this means cheap booze, a chance to make friends and maybe even get lucky. For the bars, nightclubs and student venues, an opportunity to dazzle new customers and recruit fresh trade.

Copious amounts of planning, funds and marketing go into freshers’ week in an attempt to welcome new faces to a city and show innocent undergraduates what really goes on during the years of being a student. Yet, according to a group of experts, this traditional welcome has evolved into an “alcoholic haze”, producing a high number of drink-related accidents.

Professor Oliver James, a liver disease specialist and head of the medical faculty at Newcastle University, told the prime minister at a Downing Street seminar that he was “appalled” by the quantity of drinking that goes on during freshers’ week. Gordon Brown was so impressed by the report he asked the Higher Education Funding Council - the body who provide public money to colleges and universities - what could be done to ban excessive drinking on campus.

Fortunately, nothing has been set in stone yet, but is there any real cause for such harsh matters and possibly bringing the wild parties at university venues across the UK to an end? According to a recent report, 5% of a UK sample of 3,075 students drank at hazardous drinking levels of 51 or more units per week for men and 36 or more units for women, but research shows that most will not be doing so from their local university-run bars. In fact, gone are the days of campus venues having the best and cheapest nights and a warm welcome has been extended to trendy coffee shops who have taken their place in recent years.

The fundamental issue that is being missed here is safety. No government body or campus security guard is going to stop students drinking, so surely it is better to hold events on-site than it is to let bars and nightclubs in the city throw the parties? Afterall, university unions generally look after students to a greater degree than other licensed premises. And, a much-needed bed (in the Halls of Residence) after a hard night is a lot closer to a party on campus than one held a taxi journey away.

Today, the nightclub industry is being regulated more then ever, with the introduction of the new Security Industry Authority (SIA) license that all security personnel must hold to work as door staff. A ban on cheap drinks deals, such as “50p shooters” has been enforced in some cities and local authorities are taking a hard line on binge drinking.

It is difficult to quantify how many alcohol related incidents are caused by students as a result of Freshers week and if the number is high, then why stop the safest venues operating in favour of distant premises away from a student’s accommodation. The government need to re-think this one.

What do you think?