People old enough to drink, amazingly, are less likely to cause as much trouble as minors who drink are. Giving students a place to go if they want a beer with their music is valuable. I am not by any means the almighty entertainment guru, but I do know that students tell me that they would attend Dive events more often if alcohol was sold. It attracts upperclassmen as well as the underclassmen who are already at the events. Beer, cans of soda and wine coolers along with popcorn could give the Dive the vital lift it has been begging for.
Gustavus students are a lot more responsible than they have been given credit for.
A bar in the Dive could help eliminate the urge to go to a kegger, getting blitzed and heading up the hill only to pass out in vomit or to travel over to a bar on the other side of town to drink. It has worked at St. John's, UWEC, UW-La Crosse and many other schools. For most students on campus the answer to this question has nothing to do with the Dive. Recently a Student Senate survey was conducted asking students what they would want at the Dive to make it more popular. The answer given most among the 124 responses taken was alcohol.