<p>Is the alcohol policy too lax at Rice? How does it compare to other schools? I was concerned that people commented on the overabundance of alcohol during Owl weekend. The newspaper also lists several alcohol related incidents.</p>
<p>I don't think the alcohol policy is too lax. I am a non-drinker finishing up my second year at rice and I even agree with our alcohol policy. I think it is much wiser to allow students to drink on campus than to have them going off campus and drive around drunk. I think Beer Bike falling on the same week as Owl weekend made it seem like there was an overabundance of alcohol.</p>
<p>I certainly don't think that Rice students drink any more than other students. One thing that I notice at Rice is that people are more mature about their drinking too. I rarely have to deal with stories at breakfast that start out with "I was so drunk last night..." Like people will talk about a party and some might occasionally say "I probably had too much to drink last weekend" but they don't seem to make it a point of pride when they talk about being drunk.</p>
<p>I agree with torres on the sensibility of the Alcohol Policy. The Alcohol Policy of a school will have little or no effect on the actual behavior of the students; Rice realizes that and tries to make sure everything's safe.</p>
<p>And I don't think alcohol's as prominent on Rice's campus as it would seem.</p>
<p>Alcohol is very prominent on the Rice campus, but no more so than at other colleges. I think it is worse at my son's Ivy.</p>
<p>Alcohol is the way of life at alot of colleges, even higher end ones like Georgetown....it's rare to find non-drinkers, or so I've been told (from multitudes of students)...Everyone always finds their "group" though, so don't worry about being left out or not fitting in at parties....I agree that Rice is big about alcohol though.</p>
<p>At first, it seems like alcohol is everywhere at Rice, but from what I've seen, Rice students actually drink less than students at most other colleges. Rice just happens to be very open about the drinking - if there are students drinking, then there are. A lot of schools have a tendency to hide the fact that there are people drinking, even if it is very prominent on campus.</p>
<p>I was at Owl Weekend and alcohol didn't seem like too much of a problem. Yes, it is available for students who look for it, but it's definitely not a problem if a student doesn't want to take any part in it. I chose not to drink and didn't have a problem having a great time with other non-drinkers as well as some people that did drink. I have to agree with the above posters in that every college, elite or not, will have a fair amount of alcohol around.</p>
<p>I don't know how much Rice students actually drink in comparison to students from other universities, but I would argue that it has a more visible presence on campus here than a lot of other schools.
Rice's alchohol policy is crafted with the goal of promoting student safety, with the philosophy of "they're going to drink no matter what we do, so let's try to make it as safe as possible." Alcohol is allowed on campus and, though it's obviously still illegal, even underage students can find a drink without too much trouble. As a result, students tend to drink more on campus rather than going off campus to bars and clubs (which I'd argue is a possitive thing since it reduces the chances of drunk-driving and campus EMS is very responsive in the unfortunate event that they are needed).</p>