North Carolina Considers Privatization of Liquor
Aleigha Page, Staff Writer
North Carolina legislators are
considering privatization of the
state liquor industry. Because
the state government currently
owns the liquor business, the only
means of purchasing bottled liquor
is through the Alcoholic Bever
age Control Commission, whose
liquor locales are more informally
known as ABC stores. Because the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Com
mission has a monopoly on the
liquor industry, it dictates which
brands of alcohol are available and
what the prices of those brands will
be. The Commission also dictates
which restaurants can obtain a
liquor license and how much that
license will cost.
North Carolina is one of only
i8 “control states” that have state
government-imposed liquor regu
lations. Of those i8 control states,
however. North Carolina is the only
state where local ABC boards sell
alcohol and are loosely indepen
dent of the state government.
According to a WRAL article
written by Gary Robertson, Gov
ernor Beverly Purdue has hired
a Chicago-based financial group
to appraise the liquor wholesale
distribution in North Carolina
and, as stated in Business Weekly,
to evaluate how much of a profit
North Carolina could turn by al
lowing liquor to be sold by private
vendors. The WRAL article claims
that the Alcohol Beverage Control
Commission will pay the financial
team up to $175,000 for the ap
praisal.
Whereas ABC stores are cur
rently run by the state govern
ment, if North Carolina were to
privatize the alcohol sales, anyone
could own a liquor store and make
his or her own profit. The idea to
privatize North Carolina alcohol
sales was first inspired by the dis
covery of the financial success of
a family running the ABC store of
New Hanover County; reports say
that the family was turning over
$250,000 in profits within a fiscal
year. Meanwhile, in Mecklen
burg County, one liquor company
treated county board members to a
$12,700 dinner.
Aside from benefitting indi
vidual entrepreneurs, privatization
of alcohol sales would primarily al
low the state to financially benefit
from the selling of warehouses,
properties, industry assets, and
other items used in the state-
owned liquor industry, according
to Leonard Gilroy, the Director of
Government Reform for Reason
Foundation.
Those people opposed to chang
ing the 75-year-old ABC bill state
that it has generated $259 million
for both state and local govern- •
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Published hij Hinton Press
ments. The
advocates of
the status quo
also claim that
the way in
which alcohol
is currently
administered
keeps personal
liquor con
sumption low.
They stress the
importance
of evaluating
the possible
increase in
alcohol con
sumption and how that increase
could lead to potential problems,
such as higher alcoholism rates,
more drunk driving accidents, and
public disturbances. Governor
Perdue promises to evaluate these
possible “human costs” in consid
ering passage of the new bill before
any official action is taken.
Privatizing ABC stores will
put the control of alcohol in the
consumers’ and the sellers’ hands.
North Carolina legislation has
not permitted private liquor sales
Photo courtesy of News and Record
since the days of prohibition, so
changing the way the state handles
its liquor is a monumental piece
of legislation. If passed, the new
bill will shake up the social norm
that has been established, and it is
certain to have a strong impact on
how all citizens of North Carolina
view alcohol distribution and con
sumption. The research team from
Chicago will present their research
to Governor Perdue and other
state legislators in April.
What is Sustainability at
Meredith College?
Katherine Seott, Contributing Writer
The Green Print defines Mer
edith College’s goals to become
sustainable. It also lends a well ac
cepted definition of sustainability.
But how exactly does sustainability
actually appear on campus?
Is it an edible garden blooming,
years after students and faculty
worked a Friday afternoon to plant
them? Is it a new graduating class
working together to plant trees
as “Catalysts for Change”? Not
just that. It is all the imagination,
collaboration, organization and
decisions that made these events
occur. It is also all the food that
the garden will provide and all the
services the trees will give.
Is it that Meredith College has
an environmental organization on
campus? Not just that. It is that
Angels for the Environment has
many dedicated members who
have worked hard to bring environ
mental awareness to campus. It
is also that Angels for the Envi
ronment chose to take a risk and
elect a non-science major as their
president. Even more so, it is that
having a diverse group has made
the organization grow to a new
measure that stands up to more
current environmental needs.
Is it that Meredith College
students and faculty worked to
complete the college’s first Green
house Gas Inventory in the semes
ter of Fall 2009? Not just hat. It is
that a professor took an opportuni
ty that was a risk to use the inven
tory as an educational experience
for a single class. It is also that
many faculty contributed informa
tion to students, and that some
brave few chose to help coordinate
and provide support to students.
Sustainability is its associations.
It is how Meredith College set its
the sustainable goals, how the
community always yields sustain
able efforts, all of the connections
these efforts make and how these
connections inspire more goals.