Letter: Simpson is wrong, go ahead and do that Fry Street crawl
Fry Street.
Sidney Johnson | Staff Writer
The author of our most recent letter to you Fry Street hooligans was criminologist Dexter Simpson, not the North Texas Daily. His knowledge of alcohol is certified by having served as a Regional commander of the North Texas Region of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission. While I respect his opinion, I also have a graveyard of bones to pick with his assumptions on student drinking patterns.
1. “Rituals on the campuses of colleges and universities can be dangerous and deadly, as we saw with the tradition of bonfires on the campus of Texas A&M University.”
Mr. Simpson, I don’t equate the tragedy at A&M with the Fry Street crawl in any way. The Texas A&M bonfire collapsed due to faulty construction. The only link I see between the two is someone taking too many shots of fireball and toppling over.
2. “The investigation has revealed a ritual where UNT students, on their 21st birthday, can go to the bars and taverns on Fry Street and receive free shots of alcohol. Apparently this ritual has been handed down through the student culture for many years.”
The crawl isn’t a black-hooded ceremony and is open to anyone turning 21, not just students. I did my crawl on Fry Street and didn’t even know where UNT was located. Somehow I – as well as scores of other students – survived.
3. “Straight alcohol, straight alcohol and more straight alcohol.”
Straight alcohol isn’t the only option. Riprocks allows the crawler to play my favorite “The Price is Right” game (Plinko) to determine their shot. Many of these are mixed drinks and every other bar has alternates as well. Your assertions not only disregarded this fact, it covertly buried it through your repetition that only straight alcohol is served.
4. “Many of you are so young that your body has no tolerance for large amounts of straight alcohol which can lead to a total loss of control.”
These bars serve only those 21-years-old or older — we aren’t just young people, or as you insinuated, “lightweights.” We are adults looking to have fun and I hope you don’t believe the crawl is our first go around. Moderation, personal responsibility and no mixing of browns and clears are the keys to responsible drinking and I don’t think you believe we understand this.
5. “The tradition of drinking alcohol until you are so drunk that you have to crawl out of the…”
Whoa, whoa…who ever said this was to be taken literally?
6. “If the president of this university or the Board of Regents does not take control of this wrongdoing by the establishments that serve alcohol to UNT students, then they and the university are complicit in this wrongdoing.”
The wrongdoing of serving alcohol to people of age? The university has no dog in this fight — they can’t prevent drinking off campus, and you can’t either.
In closing, Mr. Simpson, I believe you operate in absolutes when it comes to UNT students drinking — either we’re as sober as a nun or so drunk we provoke university police with hatchets. I also didn’t appreciate your unsuccessful use of Ryan McMillan’s death as a cheap anecdote for your “Highland Street Sermon,” which was overwhelmingly reproached by students, as those usually are here at UNT.
To future crawlers, go have your fun because you only turn 21 once, just know when enough is enough.
Viva la Fry Street!
Featured Photo: Courtesy | North Texas Daily Archives
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment