A letter from Scott Hirko "MSU drops the ball on drink policy" (SN 9/9) said that alcohol should be allowed in the new part of Spartan Stadium, and goes on to blame students for the ban. I disagree with him for a few reasons.

First, the point made by Hirko is fundamentally against the spirit of MSU as I have come to understand it. There should be no place at MSU for special privileges just because you have more money to throw around than the next guy.

I personally don't like the idea of the suites at all, but as they're already built, there's not much use in complaining. But saying that the people in them should get alcohol doesn't make sense and saying that without alcohol people aren't getting their money's worth is just plain stupid.

I'm 19 years old, and I have a great time at every game I attend without a drop of alcohol in my system. To tell me that the supposedly grown-up occupiers of the suites can't enjoy the game without some booze strikes me as both ignorant and somewhat insulting. The same goes for describing MSU as "politically correct" and "no-fun" because of the alcohol ban.

This is the kind of attitude that leads to students binge drinking every weekend because that's the only way they know how to have fun. If so-called adults in the real world can't see other ways to have fun, how are we supposed to?

This brings us to Hirko's assertion that the students are the problem. I won't deny that there is a drinking problem at MSU. But I think it is necessary to say that the drinking problem doesn't just include students, it includes all the people on campus. This means alumni as well.

I don't mean to imply that all people of any group are a problem, but when someone such as Hirko, who graduated 15 years ago, still thinks that drinking is the only way to enjoy a football game, it tells me something is very wrong with both groups.

Also, looking at the police blotter for Sept. 3, the day we played Kent State, I don't see a single drinking-related arrest inside the stadium for anything other than a minor in possession, which is illegal anywhere. So, where are these problems being caused by drunken students?

Matthew Caramagno
English junior