Canstruction - The conclusion

Saturday was the build date for this year's Corridor Canstruction, and although I could write a long rant about my many dislikes for how the lack of organization this year, I will just keep this short and post of cool pictures.

I was very please how smoothly the build went, and except for the substitution of razor sharp steel wire for the insulated copper wire I had originally used, there were no screw ups.

To the right is a photo of the front of the boat, although my brother seemed to get the front and the back confused. In retrospect I can see the confusion, it seems that the group in charge of the stern decided to make it a little on the pointy side, while the method used to construct the bow resulted in a rounded bow, oops.

For more pictures of the event, go to the Gazette's photo gallery. There is only one photo of our TiCanic, but as Gazette photographer, Liz Martin said, it wasn't very photogenic. I have to agree with her on this, it was a bulky bizarre thing. It will just give me more to think about in planning next years...

IC's drinking problem (part 2)

After writing yesterday's post, I ended up having a long conversation about the scope and the root of the drinking culture in Iowa City. In addition we discussed possible solutions and the possible unintended consequences of those solutions.

I know my audience base isn't very large (in fact I feel the majority of my readers were included in the discussion yesterday) however I am interested in turning this into a larger conversation.

• What are possible ways to reduce the amount of alcohol imbibed in Iowa City (in the next year or two)?
  
• What are possible ways to reduce the issues caused by the drinking culture in Iowa City?
• What should bar owners/operators be responsible for? What shouldn't they be held responsible for?
  
• What state/national regulations would prevent taxing served drinks in Iowa City?

Please leave your comments, I am interested in hearing what you have to say.

IC's drinking problem

I recently came across this article and was taken by this quote, "Most assaults occur at night and often involve people who have been drinking."

My response in one word, "Duh." The relationship between Iowa City and the drinking establishments is an interesting one. Having grown up in Iowa City I am well aware of this. There were bars that would serve me and my friends drinks when we were sixteen (and don't claim they thought we were older, we were sixteen.) Furthermore, there are several bars that I frequented up until I turned 21, once I had reached that age, I suddenly felt like I was the oldest person in the bar.

But while Iowa City wants to appear to be taking on under age, and binge drinking, they can't crack down on it too much, as I'm sure that the availability of alcohol has a very positive effect on undergrad enrollment at the University of Iowa. I would be interested in hearing if more people enrolled at the University because they had a football team, or because they got really drunk (or saw really drunk people) on a college visit.

The price to the city is obvious, increased crime rates, mainly assaults, but more frequently something stranger, causes a need for more police. This price is currently paid by the home owners in the city who, in turn, blame the University. As the previous article shows, it's not always university students, the bars in Iowa City have become such a draw that it is often people from out of town who show up to enjoy a night of sin in the city.

One solution I would be interested in seeing the City Council look at would be a taxation on all alcoholic drinks served in a bar or restaurant. While I'm sure there are state laws preventing this (which were probably pushed by the alcohol distributors,) many cities have high taxes on hotel rooms and rental cars, the only difference is those cities have convention centers, Iowa City has bars.

By taxing served drinks, the city would not only raise money directly from the thing that causes them to spend it, but it might actually encourage people to drink less. Unfortunately, as we saw with the previous 21 and over ballot initiative, serving alcohol is a lucrative business, and the bar owners in Iowa City realize where their money comes from and are willing to spend handsomely to prevent the city from taking action to try and curb some of the problems it cause.

Even though I no longer live in Iowa City, it's still my home town, and every time I read an article about stupid drunk people doing stupid drunk things, I'm reminded of something my brother said, "I shouldn't be afraid to take my three year old daughter downtown at two in the afternoon, just because it's a game day." And therein lies the question, what does downtown Iowa City exist for? The people who live in the city, or the bar owners?