Carolina Cup is back this weekend, to the excitement of steeplechase fans everywhere. Which is, of course, the event’s main appeal to USC students, and not the extensive alcohol use — and abuse — that goes on at the track. When will the chaos that is bourgeois horse racing end?
Sarcasm aside, Carolina Cup is notorious for its student drinking; for certain groups the drinking is more than expected — it is a rite of passage.
This year, state and local police hope to rein in that tradition by nearly quadrupling officer presence at the race. USC’s own officers will be undercover, and police throughout the track will be instructed to keep a strict lookout for underage drinking. Despite how traditional the event has become, law enforcement agencies aren’t taking any chances, and students shouldn’t either.
While it isn’t always the most popular thing to say, excessive drinking does not make an event fun or memorable — in fact, it usually does quite the opposite. Students shouldn’t feel pressured by the expectations of the event to celebrate beyond their limits or even celebrate at all. Given the very real dangers that drinking leads to, the stigma that comes with just saying “no” to the hand offering you the Solo cup should finally disappear.
However, in the highly likely event that attendees do decide to drink, we can only wish they do so with some amount of responsibility. Travel with friends you trust; have someone — you or a friend — volunteer to be the designated driver both to and from the race. Regardless of the event — be it a house party or watching thin-limbed jockeys hold on to a horse for dear life — USC students should ultimately exercise as much caution as possible when it comes to alcohol use.
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