Spring carnival this year features cash bar for students over 21
As the days get warmer, Keene State College students have switched from boots to sandals and moved from the coziness of their rooms to lay on the quad and enjoy the sun.
Another sign that spring is here is the amount of events and activities taking part on campus.
For many, the carnival put on by the KSC Student Government is a crowd favorite.
“It was really fun last year…I love going on the rides with my friends. It’s right here on campus, so it’s really a great thing to go to,” KSC sophomore Kaitlin Richotte said.
The Spring Carnival will happen on Friday, May 1, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Erin D’Aleo / Graphics Editor
Students will see changes to the event this year. For the first time, there will be a cash-bar serving alcoholic beverages to students of legal drinking age.
KSC senior and the Student Body Vice President, Jackie Efraimson, said the organization decided to put on a cash-bar to make the event more appealing for older students and provide entertainment for all the attendees.
“We are going to have a beer garden for students. You can drink at this event within the standards of where the cash-bar is,” Efraimson said.
Efraimson said she predicts serving alcohol during the event will not jeopardize safety or bring any issues.
“Our purpose is not that students get wasted and go on rides, we don’t want that. It is an additional feature that we have added this year and we hope the students will like it,” Efraimson said.
According to Efraimson, students seem to be responsible when they attend on-campus events.
“I think that most students behave really well when they’re involved in on-campus activities, they make good decisions and respect others.”
She noted the location of the cash-bar has not been determined yet.
However, it will include a designated drinking area where only students 21-years-old and older can enter.
Efraimson said there will be a rope surrounding the bar and Sodexo staff will be checking IDs at the entrance.
Director of Campus Safety Amanda Guthorn explained, “Any time you sell alcohol and you have a mixed crowd — people under twenty-one [years old]and people over twenty-one— you must have a designated area for the bar.”
Guthorn said Sodexo has a valid license to serve alcohol.
Guthorn stated, in previous events, Sodexo has been successful in making sure everyone entering the bar area has a valid ID.
“They [Sodexo staff members] have been tremendous. They are very responsible vendors and make sure they are not over serving the students,” Guthorn stated.
For her, problems rise only when students are over-served.
“This is when people get intoxicated, they can’t take care of themselves and they make poor decisions and put their safety at risk,” Guthorn said.
While Guthorn noted serving alcohol during the carnival presents some challenges for the organizers and Campus Safety, she said she predicts there will not be any issues with the students’ conduct on campus.
“It will be interesting to see how it goes with a cash-bar, they have never done it before.”
In regards to safety during the carnival, Guthorn said Student Government has not hired any Campus Safety officers to work at the event, but there will be officers on regular duty making sure everyone is safe.
Karina Barriga Albring / Senior Reporter:
Students spin on one of the amusement rides at the Spring 2013 KSC carnival.
“It is a daytime event. Students are generally just going on rides and having fun with friends. It [the carnival] has never brought us any issues,” Guthorn said.
Guthorn explained the process to coordinate an event that involves alcohol consumption on campus consists of filling out a form that go to scheduling and then to Campus Safety.
Guthorn said she goes over the forms and makes sure the requirements are being met. She said one of the things she looks at is to see if organizers are offering food as well as beverages.
This year, the carnival will feature Asian cuisine. Efraimson said the Zorn Dining Commons will be serving five or six different Asian dishes.
She noted there will be free food for all students and community members attending the carnival on the area between the student center and the Zorn Dining Commons.
Also, something new students can look forward to during the carnival are free T-shirts.
“We have five-hundred T-shirts we want to give out,” Efraimson said.
Another aspect that has changed in the planning of this year’s carnival, according to Efraimson, is the company that will be putting on the rides outside the dining commons and the student center.
Efraimson said Fanelli Amusement will be bringing three rides to campus: the Roundup, the Ferris Wheel and the Scrambler. Efraimson said the company staff came to KSC on April 2 to determine convenient locations for every ride.
Efraimson also said Student Government is also looking into hiring a fourth ride from a different company.
“We are thinking of something like a rock wall or a bungee jump,” Efraimson said.
There is a possibility the carnival will be featuring KSC students performing on stage throughout the afternoon.
“This hasn’t been finalized yet, but we have reached out to a number of students to see if they will be interesting in participating,” Efraimson said.
Efraimson referred to the carnival as a very positive event.
“I think the students really love the atmosphere of the rides on campus…It’s kind of like wrapping up the school year…almost like stress reliever before finals,” she said.
Karina Barriga Albring can be contacted at kbarriga@keene-equinox.com
