With the onset of the RIMAC Annex’s opening and the probable inclusion of alcohol sales in the building’s cafe, students will need to reconcile their interests with a university that has traditionally tried to keep alcohol at arm’s length.

This year, booze has enjoyed a rising profile at UCSD. The A.S. Council’s Bear Gardens have come into full swing, in the areas of both popularity and profit, with two more planned for this year. The council’s programming department has also negotiated to host a beer garden at the Sun God Festival – a commendable feat, considering the council’s lost battles against administrators in recent years over hosting the event.

Considering the campus’s relationship with alcohol, the recent option of its availability at the annex has spurred a predictable response: The council is standing against a blind and uncompromising administrative unit (this case’s antagonist is the campus ‘s Student Regulations and Revisions Committee).

The department is currently reviewing a toothless proposal that confuses alcohol standards for recruitment events. And earlier this year, the council and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Joseph W. Watson were deadlocked over the explicit advertisement of alcohol at university events – the name of the council’s Bear Gardens indicates the winner of that dispute.

The annex is a juicy prospect for alcohol sales, but only if the building is allowed to bypass policy governing advertisement that would otherwise stunt alcohol’s profitability. With Watson leaving his post, the vestige of resistance against alcohol’s rising tide may give way.