Drench Organisers Fined — Liquor Offences

By Roger Wilde

Nine of the organisers of Drench, held on March 8 this year as part of Orientation Week, have been convicted of selling liquor without authorisation.

Drench is a university dance which is traditionally held in Orientation Week and at Tournament.

Tickets purchased at the function can be exchanged for liquor, in this case—a can of beer.

Eight of the convicted students were lined $20 and costs, while the ninth was convicted and discharged under Section 42 of the Crimes Act.

The magistrate, Mr. Birks, S.M., said he took that course of action because the ninth student had been asked to assist with the organisation of the dance only 24 hours before it actually took place.

The other eight students are appealing against the decision.

A former secretary of the Students' Association, Roger Lawrence, said that he had discussed the possibility of prosecution with a member of the Police Department in 1966.

"He agreed as long as they hadn't entered the hall before purchasing the liquor tickets and as long as they were members of the Grand Establishment, the name of a club running the function, no prosecution could be successful," Mr Lawrence said.

The entrance fee of 50 cents and the 25 cent charge for the liquor were not collected at the same spot, a spokesman for the students said.

"But they were both being sold on the ground floor," he said.

The dance was held on the first floor.

At the trial, a policeman said he saw a can of beer being exchanged for money at the office where the entrance fee was collected.

This was denied by the students.

"There were several cans kept behind the counter for the personal use of those organising the function," one of them said.

"At no stage was beer actually exchanged for cash.

The President of the Students' Association, Gerard Curry said that the prosecutions "confirmed original fears" that it was illegal.

"It's always been assumed that this sort of function was contrary to the Sale of Liquor Act," he said.

"But it has never been tested until now."

Mr Curry said that it was a matter which affected every other university in the country.

"Other universities have run Drenches in conjunction with Tournament, and I think many run them as part of their Orientation programmes.

"Whether they still run them is a decision for them to make."

Salient rang Dunedin yesterday to see if the proposed Drench had been cancelled.

The Vice-president of the Otago University Students' Association, Mr Richard Fisher said they would "probably go ahead".

"We've had general discussions with the police over the last few weeks and have got the problem fairly well sorted out.

"But we won't go ahead unless it's legal," he said.

All legal fees incurred by the students concerned will be met by the Students' Association.

But they will have to meet the cost of the fines personally.