OXFORD CHANGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 14

OXFORD CHANGES.

SOBER UNDERGRADUATES. NO WILD NIGHTS NOW. LONDON, May 23. Beer, beer, glorious beer, Pill yourself right up to ne.re. No more is this roistering old chorus heard in many of the halls and the great college dining rooms at Oxford. Undergraduates to-day are more sober than at any time in the history of the University. In several of the colleges restrictions have been placed on the drinking of beer in Hall, but there has been no outcry. In Pembroke the maximum is one pint per person. At Trinity College there is a similar rule and "compliments"—the age-old practice of undergraduates treating each other to drinks in Hall —has been prohibited. If a student wishes to treat a friend to a pint, he gives up his own drink. Now it is rumoured that St. John's College is to follow the lead of Pembroke 3 and Trinity, but the undergraduates are not worried. Residents have always been strictly forbidden to drink at bars in public houses, and a regular patrol of these institutions is carried out under the instructions of the college authorities, but it is seldom nowadays that this rule is violated. Drinking in rooms and in clubs, where there are no restrictions, is also on the wane. "At one time college room parties used to supply us with the major part of our trade, but not now," a prominent wine merchant said. "Then undergraduates were connoisseurs of wine. They bought the best and lots of it. To-day it is an unusual thing to get an order for even a dozen bottles. "The one time the undergraduate lets himself go is on the night of the Boat Race, and then most of the -celebrating is done in London. "There is practically no call for spirits, either whisky or brandy, from any of the colleges, and hectic nights are a thing of the past."