Police too strict on underage drinking
Rikki Phillips
Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: Opinion
Lock Haven University, the school where the weekends are more boring then the week days. As a senior, I have witnessed a drastic change in the weekends and night life here at Lock Haven University.
If you've been here more then two years, then you know what I'm talking about. An off-campus party is hard to come by in this town. It wasn't always this way, when I was a freshman the parties were easy to find and unless things got really out of hand no one got in trouble.
Since the city police were given grants by the state through the Rural Initiative to fight underage drinking in Clinton County, the parties and good times have disappeared.
Since towns like Wellsboro and Renovo also received grants, something tells me this was not aimed specifically at college students, rather than high school kids.
And it's no secret in Lock Haven that the town people and police really do not like the college kids. So, the college students have taken the majority of the heat.
The students who were brave enough to throw parties usually paid for it when the cops would show up in no time. I spoke with a few freshmen who say that they barely go out on the weekends and usually end up either smuggling alcohol into the dorms or just doing nothing.
I'm sorry but that is not the college experience that many students are looking for. If I were a freshman in my first year I would be looking for colleges to transfer to ASAP.
Yes, underage drinking is illegal and the results can be very bad, but my point is that college students in college towns across the state and country party every weekend regardless of their age.
Why college students should be harassed and arrested baffles me. Maybe college students are easy targets and an easy way for police to get all the citations for the month.
Now, I realize that college is about learning and building your skills for the future. However, it is also about keg parties, hangovers, and just letting loose. It's been this way for decades. Let's not forget any student cited for underage drinking could easily drop out of school and join the military.
If you've been here more then two years, then you know what I'm talking about. An off-campus party is hard to come by in this town. It wasn't always this way, when I was a freshman the parties were easy to find and unless things got really out of hand no one got in trouble.
Since the city police were given grants by the state through the Rural Initiative to fight underage drinking in Clinton County, the parties and good times have disappeared.
Since towns like Wellsboro and Renovo also received grants, something tells me this was not aimed specifically at college students, rather than high school kids.
And it's no secret in Lock Haven that the town people and police really do not like the college kids. So, the college students have taken the majority of the heat.
The students who were brave enough to throw parties usually paid for it when the cops would show up in no time. I spoke with a few freshmen who say that they barely go out on the weekends and usually end up either smuggling alcohol into the dorms or just doing nothing.
I'm sorry but that is not the college experience that many students are looking for. If I were a freshman in my first year I would be looking for colleges to transfer to ASAP.
Yes, underage drinking is illegal and the results can be very bad, but my point is that college students in college towns across the state and country party every weekend regardless of their age.
Why college students should be harassed and arrested baffles me. Maybe college students are easy targets and an easy way for police to get all the citations for the month.
Now, I realize that college is about learning and building your skills for the future. However, it is also about keg parties, hangovers, and just letting loose. It's been this way for decades. Let's not forget any student cited for underage drinking could easily drop out of school and join the military.
