Dear Editor,
We, the members of WPCR (the radio station here on campus) in the past couple of weeks have been having some trouble. The problem revolves around a certain policy that student organizations, as well as every aspect of the University, has to abide by. The policy we are talking about refers to the use of alcohol, or any paraphernalia of the kind, in the promotion of a student organization or any other group. Basically, student organizations are not suppose to use alcohol or references to alcohol in any way on their posters, shirts, bulletin boards or on promotional items. The goal of this policy is to not promote drinking among the students or give the idea to people outside the University that the organizations and groups on campus encourage the use of alcohol. Everything an organization or group does has to be approved by the administration in the Hartman Union Building; they have the final say in whether something passes or does not for what ever reason. If you look around campus I am sure you’ve seen a few posters, banners or t-shirts with references to alcohol on them. All these references have been approved by the administration, so it is clear to see there is some leniency in the policy of “no promotion of alcohol.” This is where the radio station’s problem arose.
Every year we create a special edition T-shirt for Spring Fling, the biggest event of the year. So naturally, this year we came up with a new design. The Spring Fling committee chose, as their theme, “Spring Fling 007: The Party Never Dies,” naturally a play off of James Bond. We decided to go along with the theme for our T-shirt design. We designed a shirt that looks like a tuxedo front and on the back it says “WPCR Spring Fling 007, Shaken, Not Stirred.” In the middle was our Air Guitar Guy logo in a tuxedo, shaking an oversized martini shaker. We thought the design was a hit, it went along with the Spring Fling theme, because everyone knows James Bond likes his shaken, not stirred. When we went to get it approved by the administration, they did not approve the T-shirt design, saying that the martini shaker promoted drinking.
Naturally we were angered by this, because we weren’t trying to promote drinking, we were just going along with the James Bond theme. We were also upset because only a few weeks before we went for approval, “The Vagina Monologues,” put on by the student organization A.W.A.R.E., had their promotional items approved. Their posters included a tipped over martini glass with green liquid spilling out of it. If any of you were lucky enough to see the performance, you would notice that the setting for the show was in a bar/lounge and everyone what looked like pink martinis. When we asked why that promotion was approved and not ours, the response we were given was that “The Vagina Monologues” were educational and that’s what allowed them to use alcoholic references in their promotion and performance. The Vagina Monologues themselves may be educational, yet we don’t see the educational value in the use of alcohol in their promotion. And honestly, the spilt martini glass on the posters and drinks during the performance seem to promote drinking an awful lot more than a martini shaker in the hands of an air guitar guy logo.
The problem does not end there. After we finally admitted defeat and changed the T-shirt design a few days later, another controversy arose and made us question once again the decisions made by the administration. The Class of 2007 had posters printed up and hung around the HUB that listed the events of Senior Week. Much to our surprise, in the background of the posters was a champagne glass full of what was clearly champagne. Now to us, that is a blatant reference to alcohol, since anyone can see that it is clearly a champagne glass full of what else? Champagne. When we confronted the administration once again about these posters and the grounds that they got approved on and not our design, the same answer was given. The answer we got was that there was educational value in the event that they were promoting. The event they were promoting was “Pints with Professors,” where seniors (who are of legal drinking age) are allowed to go and have drinks with their professors in a casual setting. Once again, we cannot find any educational value in this event that would allow the use of alcoholic reference. Granted they are promoting drinks with professors and students, who are of age, but they are still promoting drinking either way, and students who are not of age can also see these posters and what they promote.
Once again, to us here at WPCR, we see no educational value in this event, and as a matter a fact, we find no educational value in any form of drinking. Needless to say we were once again rejected in our design. The kicker is that the phrase “Shaken, Not Stirred” was approved and we could use that. To us, if something was promoting drinking, that phrase would more so then the martini shaker itself, considering it’s a reference to the movie not directly to drinking or any form of alcohol. Soon after our second rejection we noticed that our fellow organization PACE has T-shirts that their members wear at events. These T-shirts say “Absolute PACE” on the front. The phrase on the shirt is taken from the advertisements made famous by the vodka, Absolut. With the addition of the extra “E” on the end of the absolute is the PACE shirts, creating the actual word absolute, allowed them to get approval. We are not saying that PACE promotes alcohol, not by any means, but anyone on a college campus, of age or not, knows it’s a play off the famous vodka’s advertisement.
The main problem our organization has is not that we were denied approval for our design. Our problem is with the inconsistency and unprofessional approach taken in the review of these promotional items. If education is the basis of approval, we believe that our T-shirts were of education value, that is they promote the radio and further educate the students on campus that there is a place were they can play their own music and have fun. We believe that our design, much like the designs of other organizations mentioned, does not promote drinking in any sense, and rather just follows a chosen theme. We also feel that it is unfair and unprofessional that our design was not approved and the other designs mentioned were. The inconsistency in the approval of these promotional designs reflects badly on the administration and is unfair to student organizations and groups. The feeling here at WPCR is that it’s either all or none, and there shouldn’t be any gray area between. We thank you for your time and we hope our message is clear.
Sincerely,Members of WPCR Plymouth University Radio