by Cristina Daglas, College Writer

Even after the recent moratorium on weekend-night drink specials at University of Wisconsin-area bars, other Big Ten universities continue to offer drink deals on their campuses.

The University of Iowa, Penn State University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign all continue to offer drink specials at local bars with few restrictions.

These institutions have taken other approaches with the issue of underage and responsible drinking in hopes of reducing alcohol consumption as a whole and continue to offer a safe environment for students.

“Happy hours,” where students could purchase two drinks for the price of one, have been eliminated at the University of Iowa, along with “all you can drink” specials.

“Prices of drinks are lowered during the times when the bars would have had specials, which continues to attract students,” University of Iowa sophomore Dan Kurtzman said.

Specials such as dollar pitchers, however, are still allowed at these bars.

“Practically every bar has a special every night, and even more so on the weekends,” Kurtzman said.

Penn State differs from the University of Iowa in that students must be 21 years old to enter the bars whereas 19 is the common age in Iowa.

Drink specials are offered every night of the week at many bars at Penn State.

“Café 210 west has very popular Long Island teas, and the most popular time there is Friday, when the teas are only $2,” said Allison Young, Undergraduate Student Government’s chief of staff at Penn State.

The Penn State Partnership attempts to combat all facets of drinking on campus with what they refer to as a “four drink or less” campaign.

According to Young, many students don’t even go to the bars because of the age barrier.

However, if drink specials were eliminated, Young said she believes people will still go to the bars, “but the expense will most likely force people to just drink somewhere else, not less, if the bars don’t have specials.”

The University of Illinois is similar to the University of Iowa in that you only have to be 19 years old to enter the bars, which ultimately makes this scene the main social aspect on campus. Drink specials and themes are still permitted at these bars.

Some said they believe that by simply banning specials in bars will only drive students to house parties which then leads to a more serious safety issue.

“I believe some of the themes and specials put some students in dangerous situations, said Christopher S. Dillion, University of Illinois’ student body vice president. “I believe it is the school’s responsibility to push for reasonable drink specials and themes, and more importantly, the school should be responsible for offering more alternatives to the bars.”