Editorial Underage bar patrons jeopardize town-gown relations

Author: [no author name found]

The behavior of Middlebury students at Mr. Ups this past Wednesday night reflects poorly on the entire student body. Underage students who were at the bar illegally deserve to be reprimanded by local authorities.

The arrival of Vermont State Liquor Investigator Michael Davidson would not have caused the disruptions that it did - the bar in fact shut down early - if the establishment had not been overpopulated with frantic, underage customers.

Davidson would not have cause to launch a formal investigation into underage drinking in town if it were not a problem.

While the local bars have a responsibility to sort out the legal customers from the flood of under-aged students flaunting fraudulent IDs, the task is not often an easy one as students are quite resourceful when it comes to finding a doppelganger older classmate or relative willing to lend a license. These eager bar-goers may not realize the risk they pose to local bartenders. The penalty for serving alcohol to minors is two years in prison and/ or a fine of up to $2,000.

This episode and the ensuing investigation will undoubtedly increase the rift between the town of Middlebury and the College. The bars and restaurants are some of the few establishments in town that students have consistently supported, and a lively nightlife scene in town should be a mutually beneficial arrangement. The juvenile behavior of students last week, however, threatened the future of Wednesday nights on the town for customers of legal drinking age, and now that an area-wide investigation is underway, other weekend watering holes may be in jeopardy.

The Campus has little sympathy for underage students who use fake IDs to populate what has traditionally been a relaxed mid-week hangout for upperclassmen. Wednesdays at Mr. Ups, "dollar draft nights" are especially cherished by athletes whose weekends are devoted to sports. The extreme measures local establishments may now be required to take, such as requiring patrons to show two forms of official ID, will constitute an additional burden to legal patrons.

Perhaps the solution is a lower drinking age, as those involved in Professor of History John M. McCardell's investigation have hypothesized. An 18-and-up law would end the division of college campuses into spheres of legal and illegal drinking, and generate more revenue for local bars. However, any such movement is undermined when underage students behave as Middlebury students did last Wednesday night. Who wants to advocate for the rights of those who don't obey the law?