By Van Vandaelle
Students in search of a cheap booze will have to find a new after-class watering hole this year.
The Ram in the Rye has scrapped Rammer Time, a two-hour period on weekday afternoons, known for its $2.75 domestic beer and mixed drinks. The after-class pastime was cancelled by Eric Newstadt, general manager of the Student Campus Centre (SCC), in consulation with Ram managers and the SCC Board.
“Since our drinks are already lowly priced, we didn’t see a reason to put them any lower and encourage over consumption,” said Newstadt who beleives Rammer Time didn’t promote responsible drinking.
Although the happy hour was popular among students, it became a source of frustration for several employees at The Ram in the Rye, who’ve asked not to be identified to protect thier jobs.
“A few people really ruined it for everyone,” said a staff member at the Ram. “We would have EMT here every two or three days, people puking everywhere and people who would skip out on their bills abuse our staff.”
Although, Newstadt insisted that the campus pub was not losing money from Rammer Time, another Ram employee said they weren’t making money either.
“With the extra staff we needed to handle the crowd , people not paying bills and even the lack of tips – it just wasn’t profitable,” said the employee.
Rick Knapps, SCC food and beverage manager, believes the cancellation of Rammer Time will make Ryerson’s pub appeal to a wider variety of students, including non-drinkers
Lindsey Daleo, a third-year geographic analysis student, often participated in Rammer Time after class. She recalls some students ordering up to 12 bottles of beer at a time and said “There were always fights out front.”
For another unnamed member of The Ram’s staff, stories of Rammer Time excess aren’t surprising.”I actually had a few separate occasions when I would be cleaning vomit out of urinals with a plastic cup,” the staff member said. “If you ask me, good riddance to the whole thing.”
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