College Faces Drinking Limits

Harvard's expected move to prohibit underage drinking on campus would bring the College into line with about a dozen area schools.

An informal Crimson survey of 15 local and Ivy League colleges found that 11 have prohibited underage drinking and two are considering adopting stricter alcohol regulations.

At Yale University, whose revised policy has been cited as a likely model for Harvard, students' social life has been dampened and drinking has gone behind closed doors, Yale undergraduates and officials said yesterday.

Sobering

Yale began enforcing Connecticut's legal drinking age this fall by issuing special identity cards to 21- year-olds that allow them to get drinks at open parties. All campuswide parties must use bartenders from a pool of authorized people, and alcohol has been banned from freshman dorms.

Yale police this fall have closed several parties held at the college's Old Campus, which houses freshmen, and one private party that attracted too much attention, according to Aaron Panner, a reporter for the Yale Daily News.

The recent crackdown has succeeded in "squashing" underage drinking at campus parties and has made the Yale lifestyle "stale," said Mark Watts, chairman of a student committee that plans campus social events.

Behind Closed Doors

In an attempt to circumvent the new regulations, more students are partying in private, Watts said.

Yale Dean of Student Affairs J. Lloyd Suttle said the college was allowing private parties to continue serving alcohol. "If it's strictly within students rooms and private we're not enforcing it so long as they don't spill out of the entryway," he said.

But campus rules require that all parties with more than 20 people must be registered in advance with the master of the residential college-the equivalent of a Harvard housemaster.

"There have been fewer of the large parties where the alcohol flows freely, but there have been one or two parties each weekend," Suttle said.

The new policy "has caused a lot of problems for students looking for entertainment. I've had three years here that were a great deal more fun that this one now," said senior Frank D. Bracken III, a founder of the fraternity Kappa Sigma.

Even fraternities are feeling the crunch. While the new rules may have contributed to heavy numbers at rush, half of the events were non-alcoholic and fraternities are being more careful about their parties, Bracken said.

Other colleges feeling the pinch include:

*Boston College: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm room. Parties must be registered in advance and no more than 50 people are allowed to attend. The person holding the party must make sure everyone is over 21, Dean of Students Edward J. Hanrahan said.

*Boston University: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm room. Parties must be registered in advance. Kegs and cases are not allowed. Campus wide events and rush are dry, Assistant Dean of Students Christopher Queen said.

*Brandeis: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm room. At large parties, underage students may not drink, and an approved bartender, ID checker and floor patroller must be present, an administrator said.

*Brown: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm room. Campus police have made 20 to 35 confiscations per week in recent weeks, Assistant Dean of Students Anne Dewart said. Kegs are banned in residential halls and at unregistered parties. At campus wide parties, underage students cannot drink, liquor must be in a separate room, and 21-year-olds must have hand stamps to get alcohol.

*Columbia: Columbia is reviewing its policy and expects to have a decision by the end of this year, Vice President Joseph Mullnix said. The current policy is lax and the drinking age is not enforced, Columbia Spectator Editor Anne Korenhauser said.

*Cornell: Cornell requires that parties serving alcohol register with the university. The sale of alcohol is prohibited without a state license. Student workers must be hired to check students' ages at parties, Student Union Director Lenorman Strong said.

*Dartmouth: Dartmouth is reviewing its policy, Daily Dartmouth Editor Karen Garnett said. The faculty masters of residence halls proposed a policy like Yale's, but the governing committee rejected the proposal, she said. One rule under consideration would prohibit freshmen from attending evening parties at fraternities and sororities. Six people have been arrested this year for buying alcohol for underage students, Garnett said.

*Massachusetts Institute of Technology: There are no rules against alcohol in dorm rooms, Assistant Dean Peter Brown said. Alcohol is allowed at private parties. At organized parties, alcohol must be kept in a separate room, and I.D.s are checked before entering the room. Rush was dry.

*Pine Manor: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm room, said Dean of Students Julie Glavin. There are no bars on campus.

*Princeton: The campus is dry, but 21-year-olds can get alcohol at the eating clubs, according to Wendy Donath, an editor of the Daily Princetonian.

*Tufts: Students must be 21 to have alcohol in their dorm rooms. The police have stopped parties regularly, Jon Newman, news editor of the Tufts Daily said. At open parties, alcohol must be kept in a separate room, and I.D. cards are checked before students are admitted.

*University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Boston: Public parties will remain dry until the state gets alcohol liability insurance, Chris Clifford, director of student activities, said.

*Wellesley: At open parties, alcohol must be kept in a separate room, and I.D.'s are checked before students are admitted. All parties must be registered, an official said