University, students prepare for annual 24 in 24 tradition

Bands will be playing at the 'Street' this afternoon, and hundreds of students are likely to be there enjoying the music. Meanwhile, administrators have put an extra nurse on duty at McCosh Health Center to deal with an expected influx of students.

Today — April 24 — is Newman's Day, an annual celebration in which participants attempt to drink 24 beers in 24 hours.

The origins of this campus holiday are shrouded in mystery. The most widely believed story holds that actor Paul Newman once gave a speech that included the quip "24 hours in a day . . . 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."

Another account traces the day's origins to the Newman film "Cool Hand Luke," in which the title character eats 50 eggs in the space of an hour. An enterprising college student, some say, once translated this feat into the more familiar realm of beer.

According to a different theory, the debauchery has nothing to do with Paul Newman but was instead inspired by another actor named Newman.

The event is not a nationwide holiday, but Princeton is not the only campus to take part. The annual tradition of drinking 24 beers in 24 hours is also observed at Bates College in Maine.

Dan Neumann — not related to the actor — a Bates student and editor of the campus weekly newspaper, said the occasion is observed on a different day at Bates.

"It's the Friday of our Winter Carnival," he explained. "You have to do one an hour for 24 hours, and you can't skip any of your campus activities."

Neither Bates nor Princeton supports this annual indulgence by students. Brian McNulty, a Bates spokesman, said he thinks that Paul Newman wrote a letter years ago to Bates expressing concern about the activity.

At Princeton, administrators strongly discourage student participation in the event.

"I don't want students to focus on discipline — the issue is safety," said Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Marianne Waterbury, who helps oversee the discipline of students who break University rules.

According to both Waterbury and Hilary Herbold, the Dean of Rockefeller College, participation in a drinking game is a University violation.

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"Intoxication in and of itself is never a cause for disciplinary action; participation in drinking games is," Herbold wrote in an e-mail.

But Rights, Rules and Responsi-bilities — the University's official written statement of discipline policy — does not specifically identify participation in drinking games as a violation.

Both Waterbury and Herbold said they consider Newman's Day to be a drinking game.

Students found to have taken part in drinking games are usually put on disciplinary probation for a period of several months, Waterbury said.

McCosh does not tell administrators when students are treated for intoxication, but Public Safety officials who transport students to the health center may in some cases tell administrators that a student broke University rules by participating in a drinking game, she said.

Waterbury said administrators use several clues to determine which students are taking part in Newman's Day. Sometimes an intoxicated student will tell a proctor that he is taking part, she said.

Administrators may consider a student's extreme drunkenness on a weekday to be "a giveaway" that he is taking part in a drinking game, she added.

Students can avoid the risk of disciplinary penalties by going directly to McCosh infirmary without Public Safety's help, Waterbury said. Medical confidentiality rules prevent McCosh workers from sharing information with administrators for disciplinary purposes, she said.

Waterbury also stressed her concern for students' safety. "I wouldn't want anybody to be endangered because they're so worried about three months' probation," she said. "It's really not worth it."

USG president Nina Langsam '03 said the USG and University staff are working together on a "social norm campaign" to discourage students from participating in the event, stressing the damaging consequences of such excessive drinking on one's health.

Brad Flora '04 plays in the Holy Smokes, a band scheduled to perform at Colonial Club this afternoon. Flora, who said the band is excited at the prospect of an outdoor concert, said band members will not be participating in the event.

"We make better music when we're all together, so to speak," he joked.

Students who took Classics 214: The Other Side of Rome last spring are not likely to forget last year's Newman's Day. Pete Cioni '04, who took the class, said an intoxicated student was sleeping in a seat in the corner of the room when the class started.

"He was already in the classroom before we got there, but we didn't notice that," Cioni said.

The class period was devoted to a screening of the film "Spartacus," Cioni said. In the middle of the movie, the student stood up, turned to face his seat and urinated on it for "nearly a minute." He then turned back around to face the front of the room and sat down in his own mess, Cioni said. Eventually, Public Safety removed the student.