Last
updated: 10/04/08
NUS
accuses companies organising pub crawls of being irresponsible
In
response to being criticised by a range of universities across the UK
for promoting health-damaging drinking habits, companies organising
so-called ‘pub crawls’ are accusing the student’s
unions themselves of bearing the brunt of the blame.
Earlier this month the National Union of Students called for a campaign
to promote ‘responsible drinking’ amongst students, in a
motion put forward at its annual conference. In some of the UK’s
biggest university cities, including Derby, York, Liverpool, Wolverhampton
and London, students agree that people are being pressured to drink,
leading them to being exposed to the risk of transmitting sexual diseases
and being criminally victimised.
Brunel University contends that the inaccurate portrayal of constantly
drunk students needs to be rectified immediately.
Campaigning student’s have specifically targeted the company responsible
for Carnage UK, an event staged in 15 cities and regularly hosting up
to 300,000 students per university year, condemning it for encouraging
precarious binge-drinking.
In an attempt to avoid being named and shamed, the company in charge
of Carnage UK circulated a list of UK student unions offering cut-price
drinks and promoting unsafe alcohol consumption.
Paul Bahia, who runs the Carnage UK brand, claims that his event does
not promote irresponsible drinking but instead
offers cheap food and free soft drinks.
Talking to the Guardian Bahia said, ‘The pricing and offers do
not seem to portray that they are making any effort to promote responsible
drinking whatsoever.”
“At Liverpool University the union used to have a flagship night
called Double Vision which offered a double spirit for £1, while
York University student union promotes treble shots when you purchase
a single shot, via their union website,” he added.
Representatives from universities such as Liverpool and York, nevertheless
maintain that the holistic ethos of the such events is inappropriate.
Dan Sumners, of the Liverpool Guild of Students, said it was irrelevant
that Bahia’s event offered free soft drinks and cheap food because
the overall ‘ethos’ was irresponsible.
‘They say that they make soft drinks available, but it is very
clear what the night is about,’ he said to the Guardian.
Unions hoping to pilot a drive to transform the image of a typical undergraduate
have referenced the case of Exeter Undergraduate Gavin Britton, who
drank himself to death after an initiation into the University Golf
Society in November 2006.
by Josie Cox
