When night falls, Coffman Memorial Union begins to look like a shopping mall that’s about to close for the evening. The gates come down on all of the storefronts. A vacuum hums along the dining room carpet. Lone security guards make their rounds through the often-empty corridors. Perhaps beer could turn this humdrum vacancy into a 1980′s Budweiser commercial, one of those ads that they don’t make anymore because they were just a little too unrealistic. This is a debate that has been pouring through the halls of Coffman for years: should alcohol be sold in the university’s student union?

Coffman already has a slew of nighttime activities for students. About two or three nights a week, the movie theater shows free films that haven’t been stacked onto video store shelves yet. The Whole Music Club is often putting on a good show. And in the basement, there’s Goldy’s Gameroom, where you can find bowling, billiards, and soft drinks. But for a student union at a large, metropolitan university, it can be difficult to find many students hanging around Coffman on a Saturday night. Some say that the addition of beer could change that.

This argument has even made it to the forum of the ‘U’s Parliamentary Debate Society. Last month, the debate team faced off over whether the union should have a student bar. Ryan Hays, a ‘U’ finance junior supported the bar in the debate.

“It’s practical for the union to do it,” Hays told me. “The union isn’t run very well right now.”

Hays said that opening a bar could create more traffic in Coffman, which would let businesses stay open longer. As of now, only one restaurant in Coffman’s food court is open past 6:30 p.m. and the only place that is open on the weekends is Einstein Bros Bagels. Hays thought that if beer were sold in Coffman, union businesses in general would do better.

At the debate, opponents argued that a bar in Coffman could lead to more students binge-drinking on campus. Hays counteracted by saying the ‘U’ could keep alcohol prices high enough so students wouldn’t drink too much. He also said it would be safer to have students drink on campus rather than somewhere else.

“It’s safer for kids who want to go to a bowling alley because there aren’t any alleys on campus where you can drink,” he said. “It would be better than having them drive to the suburbs and drinking there, then driving back.”

Students who work inside Coffman have an opinion about the debate too. Their opinions are completely independent and are not intended to speak for the university.

Seth Nesselhuf, co-coordinator of The Whole Music Club, said, “Beer could add to the atmosphere there, but because [The Whole] is a student-paid thing, you wouldn’t want to discriminate against students who weren’t 21, especially since there aren’t many 18-plus shows in Minneapolis.”

The Whole is one of those rare music venues that allow people who are under 21 to come to shows.

“There would have to be double the amount of volunteers at each show too. But other than that, it would be totally awesome,” Nesselhuf continued.

On a Saturday night at Goldy’s Gameroom, the employees behind the counter lacked customers. The three of them tried to find things to do while waiting for somebody to buy something. But hardly any customers stopped by. After the employees had gotten off of work, I spoke with a few of them about whether beer should be sold in Coffman.

“Although the availability of alcohol may attract more business, I think it’s nice to have a place on campus where students can go and hang out and have fun that is alcohol-free,” said Nicole Congdon, a student. “Security in the union may have to be heightened and you risk having underage drinking.”

Another Gameroom employee was a little more open to the idea.

“Speaking as a student, I would say that I wouldn’t mind trying it out. I think it might be worth it to have a trial run to see the positives and negatives,” said Becky Santele. “I personally don’t think we should dismiss the idea, I just don’t know what the outcome would bring by having alcohol served.”

As the debate continues, some people argue that Coffman should sell beer because the University of Wisconsin at Madison has sold it in their student union for decades. But that might not be saying too much. People can drink beer just about anywhere in Madison. While sitting in a movie theater there last year, I could hear beer bottles rolling around beneath the seats throughout most of the movie. But then again, it might be a nice addition to the theater in Coffman. It could bring more students there, making the renovations worth the money spent.

It should be noted that there already is a bar in Coffman, but it’s pricey. The members-only Campus Club, on the fourth floor, sells a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. Rows upon rows of bottles of liquor line the walls behind the bar. Students are welcome to join the club, but membership costs $180 per year. At that price, the average student could buy 90 beers at most Dinkytown happy hours.

The Campus Club, Northrop Auditorium, and the first floor of the McNamara Alumni Center are the only places allowed to have alcohol on campus. But student organizations, faculty members, and employees may fill out an application if they’d like to apply for exemption from the alcohol policy for a specific occasion.

This debate will probably go on long after I’m a student at the ‘U.’ It seems to be brought up year after year, but nothing new comes out of it. Maybe ‘U’ students already drink enough. Hell, my roommate and I each took a shot of vodka at 10:30 in the morning the other day. That was a Tuesday.

Tags: Dinkytown