Comments on: Did The Killers Kill the Liquor at Thunderbird Arena?

By: maayan kreitzman

maayan kreitzman — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:27:08 +0000

Just dropping in to say hello from France! Bonjour mes chers! when's the new blog starting?

(whoa, the keyboards here are vraiment bizarre)

By: Neal Yonson

Neal Yonson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:08:59 +0000

I should probably clarify that I'm not opposed to having a liquor licence at the arena in theory. Being able to have a beer while watching a game or a concert is a good idea. But that is based on the assumption that this will be administered responsibly and without incident. That's the opposite of what's happening here. There are too many negative impacts due to the irresponsibility of the university.

Kommander, I also recognize that the RCMP is a small detachment and that large events pose legitimate problems with staffing. I don't begrudge them for wanting to cap SOLs. However, when the cap is reached because of concerts at the arena I have to ask: who are the people putting on these events, and who are they aimed at? They are put on by concert promoters and aimed at an audience that's primarily not from UBC. Why is it appropriate for events like this to tie up all of the RCMP's resources?

Of course, the obvious solution is as Alex said, to pay for all the necessary auxiliary officers. But in terms of how it ends up happening in practice, there are indications already about that. As I mentioned, no more SOLs on August 14, due to a concert at an Athletics venue.

By: Alex Lougheed

Alex Lougheed — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:23:29 +0000

The RCMP and Athletics have an agreement that for large concerts, UBC will be footing the bill for auxillary officers. As I'm aware, that means these extra units /should not infringe/ on RCMP duties of the day-to-day officers (which includes student beer gardens).

Of course, that's the theory at least. Unsure how it plays out in practice.

By: Kommander Keg

Kommander Keg — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:40:56 +0000

Well done Neal, this is exciting new information for those fighting the War on Fun. Its strange, but Kenna appears to be the fair fighter in this case, and that is heartening for those of us who have been pinning blame on the detachment for the past few years.

In terms of large events reducing the number (to zero in some cases) on nights with concerts or big events doesn't bother me, as I recognize that our small detachment is stretched for officers on the best of days, and its expensive to bring in auxiliary forces from Richmond. So this does not concern the Kommander so much.

What does concern the Kommander is the fact that Athletics has, and continues to be, the largest group on campus requisitioning SOLs and have been violating them all the time. For those of us fighting the uphill battle against an administration hellbent on making campus a family-oriented community, it is unfair that such a group is being given so many opportunities to undermine our efforts to prove that we are responsible.

Not only that, but Athletics isn't even a student group! While some of its student groups put on many of the events, TBird Arena and many events licensed in WarMem are done through the department, and they are screwing over responsible student groups.

The Kommander, and many other experienced student event planners would be more than happy to show UBC Athletics how to run events that 1) don't violate provincial liquor laws, and 2) turn a profit without neglecting community safety concerns. Just sayin.

-KK

By: Alex Lougheed

Alex Lougheed — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:29:27 +0000

Is there still time for a late delegation to the Metro committee? It's in Burnaby, but may be a good idea.