News

The Society of Otago Law Students (SOULS) is having its annual quiz night, complete with subsidised drinks and sponsored by law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, this Wednesday at the Captain Cook Tavern. This arrangement is strikingly similar to last year’s event, also held at the Cook on a Wednesday, and also involving subsidised drinks, which earned the Cook a 24-hour suspension of its liquor licence.


However, both SOULS and Cook management are adamant that this year’s event will not encourage binge drinking. Cook General Manager Stu Monroe says the event will be kept “tightly under control” and while “details of this control have not been finalised as of yet … there is definitely changes to be made [sic].”
The suspension of the Cook’s licence came after a complaint was lodged that last year’s event encouraged binge drinking by pricing drinks too low and serving intoxicated patrons. The complaint was made by the mother of a first-year student who was the sober driver for a team at the event.
Critic obtained copies of the statements made by both the mother and the son. The son, who we remind you was the ‘responsible’ member of his team, alleged that his three friends consumed 18 jugs between them over the course of the evening, and that by the end of the night all three were incoherent and vomiting profusely. Additionally, it stated that one of the three was consuming beer, throwing up into his hands, and then continuing to drink and throw-up again. The statement alleged that bar staff did little to prevent this behaviour. The son did not, however, stop his friends drinking, and facilitated their drinking by buying more alcohol.
SOULS President Rob Harris disputes that the event was not well run, saying “Faculty staff, SOULS, and The Cook all said they didn't see anything of what was alleged.” 
Senior Lecturer Selene Mize supports Harris’ version of events, telling Critic “I attended the quiz night almost to the very end, sat in the back corner of the garden bar, crossed the floor fairly often to turn in our answers, and ordered at the bar. I didn't notice any untoward behaviour on the part of Cook staff or students. It was a pretty good night, except for the fact that it was freezing cold and we didn't win.”