With the introduction of plastic pitchers, the saga of beer containers at the Memorial Union’s Rathskellar continues.
After banishing 46-oz. cups of beer, which critics said were too much like the drink specials Chancellor Wiley is working to eliminate from area bars, the Union has tried several alternatives.
Before 46-oz. cups were introduced, customers paid a $1 deposit for a plastic pitcher of beer. This system was eventually abandoned due to an excess of unaccountable money from deposits that were never collected by customers. Under the current system that began this summer, the pitchers cost a mandatory $1.
Marc Kennedy, a publicist with the Wisconsin Union marketing department, said a new deposit system would be implemented Sept. 3. The pitchers will still require a $1 deposit, but Kennedy said stricter monitoring procedures should alleviate the problem of unaccountable money.
“We’re really only talking about a small amount of money anyway,” he said. “I think it was a kind of nit-picky problem.”
The new pitchers will feature a Rathskellar logo.
Union worker and University of Wisconsin student Katie Ray said she is angry about the lack of recycling efforts by the Union.
“I’m mad because the pitchers are such a waste,” Ray said. “They cost more than they’re worth, and they’re all being thrown away. I can’t believe our money is going to support this.”
Kennedy said recycling the pitchers would be too costly. The Union hopes to reuse the pitchers when customers return them for the deposit money. However, he said he regrets the loss of extra cash generated by the sale of the pitchers.
“The only down side to this is that we were using the money to fund late-night programming, but now we need to pay staff to wash the pitchers,” Kennedy said. “It would have been nice to contribute more money.”
Ray said she does not think the later hours or the beer pitchers serve as good incentives for students to spend more time at the Union rather than at bars or house parties. She cites high alcohol prices as the reason students might prefer other places for entertainment.
“The pricing here is completely out of line with other beer prices around campus,” Ray said. “The university expects us to hang out here more with the longer hours, and they’re ripping us off.”
Ray also said she is skeptical about the impact beer pitchers will ultimately have on student binge-drinking habits.
“The pitchers only hold 2 oz. less than the cups,” Ray said, “and students are going to drink as much as they want to anyway. Keeping the beer in a pitcher rather than a cup isn’t going to change that.”
