With prices rising on consumer goods vital to students’ daily lives – gas and food chief among them – the Thirsty Turtle has provided a welcome relief all summer with its cheap summer specials on alcohol. Now, that spigot may be about to run dry.

The meeting that took place last week, attended by city and university officials, a county liquor board inspector, police and the three bar owners, appears to be a step toward ending the bar’s summer-long low prices.

Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Warren Kelley told The Diamondback, “…the risk that having very low prices for alcohol in bars very close to campus is a very dangerous practice.” This statement makes the connection that the low-priced alcohol purchased in the Thirsty Turtle creates an unsafe environment on the campus.

But before rushing to this judgment, the university officials, the city officials and the police owe it to the public to show that this correlation is actually taking place. Holding a meeting behind closed doors on what would surely be a hotly debated topic in a public forum denies the students and residents of College Park the opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue.

This is not the first time low prices at the city’s bars has prompted a rebuke from public officials. Two years ago, the Prince George’s County Liquor Board scolded Cornerstone Grill and Loft for its “Ladies Lockdown” event, and in February 2007, the same bar drew reprimands for its renewal of a 50-cent rail special. But in both of those instances, the officials could point to the clear negative consequences of the cheap alcohol.

The Ladies Lockdown, where women were served “penny pints” for two hours before men were admitted, prompted concern for the women’s safety, while the 50-cent rails at Cornerstone had earlier been cited by officials after gunfire broke out on two weekends in September 2006.

In this case, no such clear-cut evidence exists – at least, nothing officials have shared with the public. If these officials decide to hold another meeting on the topic of cheap alcohol prices in College Park, they owe it to the public to do so out in the open, so every voice is heard.