All in." With the explosion in popularity of Texas Hold'em poker, this phrase has become household knowledge. Over the past few years playing poker wheher for money in large-scale tournaments or without money among friends, has become an increasingly popular activity. Yet recently, Campus Police has begun to crack down on gambling on campus, citing a memo that has just been issued. Even games played without money are being shut down. After much searching, however, this memo is not to be found; I checked my mail, the campus Web site, the Daily Jolt and the Campus Police Web site (to the best of my abilities, since it has no search function) and I could not find any such memo. I'm sure it exists, because I can't imagine why Campus Police would lie, but the College has not done a very good job of informing students of this new policy. While I don't have any problems with Campus Police-they do an excellent job here-I do have problems with the policy that has led Campus Police to crack down on gambling. The College is condemning an alternative to drinking while at the same time ignoring the large scale, and often illegal, drinking that occurs on campus here at Amherst. This prevention of gambling is an example of complete hypocrisy when compared to how the College handles drinking issues on campus.

First off, I agree that the College is justified in cracking down on gambling. It's illegal in Massachusetts, and although this crackdown does lead to unfortunate side effects, such as the shutting down of games that are being played only for chips or candy or interpretive dances (yes, people in my dorm do bet interpretive dances with each other), it's what needs to be done. But I don't agree on cracking down on gambling without cracking down on drinking, which in all honesty is a much more serious issue on this campus.

In a 2003 survey conducted at Amherst, 83 percent of students said they drink at least once a month. Assuming that only a quarter of the class can drink legally, that means that at least 58 percent of students drink illegally every month. While the College chooses to ignore for the most part the fact that over half the campus is drinking illegally, they choose instead to crack down upon the minority of the campus that plays poker or other gambling games, often without money involved. This weekend I witnessed a poker game for no money get shut down in my dorm on Friday, and then I watched on Saturday as drunken students vomited throughout the dorm causing damage to hallways and students' dorm rooms. While harmless poker games were shut down, drinking brought damage to students and their property over the weekend. Yet the College has chosen to focus its efforts on reducing gambling as opposed to drinking. I know some will try to argue that the College does try to prevent illegal drinking, but can anyone honestly say that the College is preventing illegal drinking when at least 58 percent of the campus is drinking illegally? I don't know why the College believes that playing poker for no money is worse than destroying property and hurting individuals.

Furthermore, cracking down on gambling probably will not reduce crime on campus, but will instead redistribute it. Students, who would have played harmless poker or another gambling game without money, now might instead participate in illegal activities such as underage drinking. Moreover, alcohol consumption causes judgment impairment-which can unfortunately lead to violence in the form of property damage, verbal disputes and physical aggression. In the past few months, rape has been a prominent issue in campus discourse. And according to the U.S. Department of Justice, 90 percent of rapes occur when either the victim or the assailant are under the influence of alcohol and 45 percent of rapes occur when the assailant is under the influence of alcohol. Yet despite the correlation between rape and alcohol and the recent attention given to preventing rape on campus, the College has prioritized issues of gambling on campus over issues of alcohol. If the College wants to reduce crime on campus, reducing gambling isn't the answer.

In the context of campus policy on a whole, this recent gambling policy makes little sense. The College ignores illegal drinking for the most part yet views gambling as a large enough issue on campus that they have created policy to crack down on gambling. It's complete absurdity and hypocrisy. While the 58 percent of campus is drinking illegally, the minority of the campus that gambles, either for money or just as an alternative to drinking, is punished. I guess it truly is majority rule, and the majority is drunk. I don't care if the College cracks down on gambling or drinking. The College has a justifiable right to prevent both of these activities; they are illegal and should be dealt with accordingly. Yet the College should do so in a manner that is at least in some way logical and keep the students involved in the process. I don't think anyone that gambles on campus, with or without money being involved, has any idea what is going on; just look at some of the recent posts on the Daily Jolt.

And cracking down on gambling while looking the other way when it comes to drinking is a little ridiculous. In the future, the College should be more thoughtful in its policy decisions and at least try to keep the campus informed if not involved.

Barbieri can be reached at

jbarbieri09@amherst.edu