Gazette Online, IA
10-10-07
UI president won’t take position on proposed bar ordinance
By Diane Heldt
The Gazette
diane.heldt@gazettecommunications.com
CEDAR RAPIDS - University of Iowa President Sally Mason won't take a public
position on the proposed Iowa City ordinance that would keep people younger
than 21 out of bars.
Mason, in a meeting with The Gazette editorial board in Cedar Rapids on
Monday, said she hasn't decided how she'll even vote in the Nov. 6 election.
“I'm frankly having difficulty myself with it,” she said.
Committee for Healthy Choices, a citizens group, is leading the effort to pass the
ordinance that would make it illegal for people younger than 21 to be in Iowa City
bars after 10 p.m. The current age limit is 19.
Mason said she has heard compelling and logical reasons from experts in health
and wellness for supporting the measure in the hopes it would reduce binge
drinking.
But she also has heard resistance to the ordinance because students are adults,
capable of
making their own decisions.
“We let 18 year olds vote and we send them to war to die for us and yet we won't
let them have a beer,” she said. “It's tough for me to decide.”
While she won't take a stance on the ordinance, the UI's position on binge
drinking is clear: officials want to take advantage of all opportunities to cut down
on the risky behavior, she said.
During the Gazette meeting, Mason also said the UI Alumni Association's
marketing arrangement with a credit card company is under discussion. Officials
at the UI, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa sent
information on deals they have with Bank of America to the state Board of
Regents Friday at the request of regents leaders.
Mason said she wants to find out what the “pressure points” are so that UI
officials can alleviate concerns expressed by some regents and legislators about
the arrangements.
She stressed that students make up a small percentage of the cardholders
through the Alumni Association deal and that students are not aggressively
targeted.
“How protective do we want to be of our students? That's a subject we're
currently discussing,” she said.
The private alumni associations make millions from the credit card contracts.
State lawmakers will investigate the credit card promotions. The Joint Legislative
Oversight Committee will hold hearings Oct. 29 and 30.
Mason, who took over as UI's president in August, said she has spent much time
in her first two and a half months on the job traveling the state to hear from
Iowans. She wants to gather input and have a handle on the UI before getting to
work on a new strategic plan, she said.