Editorial Board
Laura Misjak
Kate Polesnak
Lindsey Poisson
James Harrison
Keiara Tenant
Justin Harris
Extending Mich. bar hours has perks, problems
A proposed bill that would allow bars to stay open until 4 a.m. might seem like a two-hour legislative bonus to many college students.
The bill states that bars and restaurants could remain open an extra two hours for an annual $2,500 fee.
Under the bill, local municipalities could decide whether to enact the legislation.
While the idea might sound good to partying students looking to extend their weekend fun, enacting the legislation wouldn’t be wise for East Lansing.
And students shouldn’t get their hopes up because it’s unlikely to take effect here. Currently, the bill is stalled in the Michigan Legislature and if it does pass on a statewide basis, the East Lansing City Council still would be given discretion as to whether to enact the legislation.
This part of the bill is effective, as it allows governing bodies of counties and cities to decide what’s best for their particular area.
Therefore, it would come as no surprise if the council decided not to employ the legislation should it pass. In a college culture where alcohol stimulates many leisure activities, extending bar hours and tempting students to drink more for longer, would be an irresponsible move by East Lansing city officials.
The point of the bill is to make money for the state and help reduce the deficit. However, the bill seems too potentially dangerous to justify the budget relief.
Currently, bars across the state are open until 2 a.m. In that time, bar crawlers are able to thoroughly indulge in their desired alcohol-driven activities. By the time the bar closes, many patrons stumble home, drunk and tired.
What happens if bar hours are extended for two extra hours?
More alcohol is consumed, and at 4 a.m. patrons who are even more drunk and tired will pour into the streets, off to their next destination.
The potential for alcohol-related incidents including drunken driving and public intoxication likely would increase.
However, such legislation could be effective in stimulating areas such as downtown Detroit where casinos and other nightlife are prevalent.
In more metropolitan areas such as Detroit and Grand Rapids, where the majority of residents are working adults and not active students, the bill could provide a positive social and economic stimulus.
The bill also would allow alcohol to be sold between 7 a.m. and noon on Sundays. This aspect of the legislation makes more sense as it eliminates the inconvenience of having to wait to buy alcohol on Sundays and won’t necessarily increase the risk of alcohol-related incidents.
While the state needs to be innovative in coming up with ideas to stimulate the economy, this bill should be approached with caution.
Raising money from this potentially negative part of society may be necessary, but it also appears short-sighted and desperate on the part of the Legislature.
Published on Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Comments
Jason
04/09/08 @ 7:09am
So, the position of this article is they should think about legislation before they pass it?
Bill Lumberg
04/09/08 @ 7:52am
“extending bar hours and tempting students to drink more for longer, would be an irresponsible move by East Lansing city officials”??? I thought students wanted to be treated like adults and contributing members of the East Lansing community. Now the SN is telling us that the students need to be restrained with legislation?
And “potential for alcohol-related incidents including drunken driving and public intoxication likely would increase”, do you have any evidence of this or is this just one of those “we are the SN so we can make up anything we want” type of statistics?
Ford
04/09/08 @ 8:37am
Longer bar hours don’t necessarily mean more people are drunker at the end of the night. Underagers are more likely to binge drink than older drinkers because the source of alcohol isn’t freely available to them. If the bar stays open until 4 am, I’ll probably still only want to spend the same amount of money between midnight and 4 as I did between midnight and 2 – I will be less intoxicated at the end of the night.
Also, the potential for drunk driving incidents in East Lansing is high because of the parking issues. As long as you can’t park your car anywhere legally between 2 and 6 AM, there is little incentive for students not to try taking their car home and avoiding being ticketed. The only reason a 4 AM bar night would fail is the city’s desire to gain parking ticket revenue. Unless the parking ordinances change, there’s no social benefit to the majority of students in East Lansing.
Matt
04/09/08 @ 9:10am
If you live close enough to leave your car and walk home after the bars, why could you not just walk to the bar to begin with? I agree parking in EL sucks, but that part of your argument doesn’t make sense.
Matt
04/09/08 @ 9:24am
It is true, many of the bar-goers in East Lansing walk to the bar of their choice, and the 4am really would have no bearing on the drunk driving situation.
If East Lansing really wants to “tackle” the drunk driving issue, they should allow parking in the streets all night long instead of forcing people to move their cars at 2am.
anonymous
04/09/08 @ 9:43am
What if the bars stayed open until 4am but stopped serving alcohol at 2 or 3 am? I think that might be a good idea, but I can’t see any bars actually doing that.
What?
04/09/08 @ 11:02am
So the bars would be open but not selling anything? That might be a good idea? What part of that is a good idea? And you can’t see bars actually doing that? Of course you can’t, why would bars pay workers and bills to continue running their establishment while no revenue is being earned? And why would anyone stay in a bar that isn’t selling alcohol? The only thing that makes sense to me about your comment is that you posted it anonymously.
good idea
04/09/08 @ 12:41pm
you idiots…it would be a good idea, stop selling alcohol at 2 but stay open till 4. This might sober some people up and prevent alcohol related arrests and accidents
chris
04/09/08 @ 1:16pm
Bill Lumburg, thank you, you are a voice of reason. Unfortunately, the editorial board has continually shown that they lack the journalistic abilities of even a high schooler. Again, they base their entire article on assumptions and opinions was not supported with facts. Why is a 2am closing good or bad – what supports this opinion? Why is an extended bar time bar good or bad – what supports this? Simply because bars are open until 4 does that mean everyone that normally stays out until 2am will stay out an additional 2 hours? Again, they failed to address simple, yet fundamental issues. It is easy to simply say something is good or bad, but there needs to be a why supported by facts. Unfortunately, SN does not understand this. Considering the school year is coming to an end, stating that they are merely students to justify their lack of due diligence is no longer valid. These mistakes are excused in August and September (or in middle and high school), but not in college and at the end of the year.
Ford
04/10/08 @ 9:13am
Matt – I don’t live close enough to campus to walk to the bars in East Lansing. If I did, sure, that part of my comment would make no sense, but I have a 20 minute drive to campus on good days.
2 hours to sober up
04/14/08 @ 3:35pm
After 2 the only thing left to do is to sober up. The drunkeness and drinkin and driving will stay the same, perhaps even lower because by 4 am most will be sober after a LONG night. Get some brains and think outside the box.