Take the booze bus

9/18/2011: The just released campus livability working group report is here. Joe Moseley’s HotTopics blog has some good comments, here. And Ed Russo has a long story in the RG – part of a series – on the impact of student partying on the neighborhoods south and west of campus. This one’s new to me:

Take the booze bus

And there is another drinking phenomenon for residents to deal with — the private party bus. Students, many from fraternities and sororities, pay to be driven around in recreational vehicles so they can party without being busted by police. The buses have sound, strobe and laser light systems. Some have a dancing pole similar to those at strip clubs.

The buses leave intoxicated passengers in neighborhoods around campus, traveling through the areas with loud music and pulsating lights. “It’s a horrendously invasive thing,” said Carolyn Jacobs, president of the South University Neighborhood Association.

I thought this was titillating hype – strip club dancing pole? But it’s true: click on link to rent one:

Our 32 passenger Party Busses features these amenities: Multipul Dance poles, party lighting ( Lasers, Black lights, Lightning disks, LED disco floor, Laser Starlight,Fiber optic, Halo lights, LCD Picture frames). Complimentary Ice and bottled water, Big 4000 watt stereo surround sound system, 4 10 inch subs, I-Pod CD MP3 DVD player, Tinted windows, Plastic cups with lids and straws, 

I’m guessing the lids and straws are essential.Why not sippy cups?

This is a very well done series, with lots on the growing negative effects for campus neighborhoods. The increasing numbers of rich out of state students are obviously adding to the problem, which is as old as universities and will never be solved, just controlled.

UO’s latest effort is on online course called “AlcoholEdu”. This is carefully analyzed in the Oregon Commentator blog. The latest research I’ve seen on this program suggests the main effect of AlcoholEdu is on the company’s stockholders (positive and significant) and on the perception that the university is doing something (weak, insignificant, and unstable.)