Students in Statesboro Fight For Right To Party; Fail

Last weekend, the AJC ran a story about a brewing political battle in Statesboro, Georgia that pits the town's old-timers against students at Georgia Southern University. The trouble actually started two years ago:

"a Georgia Southern professor brought pictures of "Ladies Lockup" night, a weekly event in one of [city-council member and bar owner, Will] Britt's clubs, to a City Council meeting. The poster-size photos showed bartenders with giant sprayers on their backs pouring neon green concoctions into girls' mouths as others chanted for them to chug more. The women drank free liquor for two hours before the doors opened to a crowd of waiting men willing to pay a cover charge to get in. The pictures rankled many residents and horrified some city leaders. Not long after, the city yanked Britt's liquor license at The Woodin Nikel and at Legend's, another establishment he owned in town."

Since that incident, the town has banned happy hour specials and prohibited bars from serving more than one drink per customer at a time. Also, Bulloch County, where Statesboro is located, does not allow the establishment of liquor stores. Naturally, the students are pissed off, and hoped to put their votes to use and end the old-timers grip on power. However, the old-timers weren't ready to just give in; more from the article:

"Four residents have challenged more than 900 students' right to vote in Statesboro, saying they haven't lived in the city long enough to make decisions about how things should be run in Statesboro, a city of 25,000 people — roughly 14,000 of them students — about 200 miles southeast of Atlanta."

The students have complained that they have been intimidated and disenfranchised by the town's tactics for maintaining control of the local government; the ACLU and the Office of the Secretary of State have launched investigations of the matter. Unfortunately for the students, following yesterday's election, it appears that their agenda will fall just short, regardless of the investigations.

Whew, I can't believe I made it through this entire post without making fun of Statesboro or Georgia Southern, despite the ample opportunities to do so. If you would like to take your swipe, please post it in the comments.