Dozens arrested on alcohol charges at IU, Purdue

[alp227]

State Excise Police arrested more than 200 people over the weekend during end-of-school-year races at Indiana and Purdue universities.

Officers arrested 187 people late last week while working IU's annual Little 500 bicycle race in Bloomington. Officer Brandon Thomas said 155 of those arrests related to illegal possession or consumption of alcohol and 17 were tied to furnishing alcoholic beverages to a minor.

At Purdue's go-kart Grand Prix event in West Lafayette, officers arrested 38 people, including 31 on charges of illegal possession of alcohol.

full: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2014/04/27/dozens-arrested-alcohol-charges-iu-purdue/8309203/

[TexasTowelie]

1. That's going to look great on the background checks of over 200 people when they apply for a job.

I'm completely against drunk driving or any other crime caused by the intoxicated or inebriated, but believe that the drinking age should be lowered back to 18.

A college student having a beer at a bike race or go-cart rally doesn't rise to the level of a criminal offense as long as they keep it within the legal limit of .08 IMO. If they are actually intoxicated, then arrest them for that crime. The students are just letting off the stress of the academic year before the beginning of finals.

[Warpy]

3. I'd like to see the drinking age lowered

and the driving age raised, let kids see what alcohol is doing to their coordination while they're still on bicycles.

I agree that this was overkill by the cops. You'd think they'd have real criminals to catch.

[RainDog]

4. They're a nuisance

It happens every year - this is a frat event billed as the greatest college weekend in the U.S. Lots of people come in from other places. It's all about getting drunk.

People who live in the area avoid the areas where these things go on. Property owners hate this weekend - drunks destroy property, they've turned over cars - the police arrest people who mostly end up picking up trash along the roadsides.

[Warpy]

5. The only thing worse than a truculent teenager is a drunk truculent teenager

and yes, I know that. However, I hate to see this sort of thing following them around in a such a rotten economy when it can be the difference between going on to a career or being a degreed pizza cook, if that.

[RainDog]

6. I think they get charges dropped

by doing the garbage pick up.

Like I said - it happens every year.

I'm just thankful more people haven't been hurt - tho who knows what goes on.

[TexasTowelie]

7. Your comments aren't entirely accurate. Both events occur on campus at the respective universities

and are used to raise scholarships. The Indiana University event provides grounds to disqualify any rider found to be abusing any substance.

There is no mention that either event is sponsored by fraternities. However, one of the Wikipedia articles below does mention that some of the clubs do open early and serve alcohol (in which case they shouldn't be serving students under 21). The business communities in those cities also profit from those events. While it is possible that some property damage occurs, that is when the police should step in to arrest those involved. Otherwise, let the students be students and enjoy the college experience--they'll enter the adult working world soon enough.

BTW, during his run for presidency the then senator Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to the Little 500 woman's race in 2008.

The Little 500 (also known popularly as the "Little Five&quot , is a bicycle race held annually during the third weekend of April at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The race was founded in 1951 by Howdy Wilcox Jr., Executive Director of the Indiana University Student Foundation, who modeled the race after the Indianapolis 500, which his father had participated in and won in 1919. Racers compete in teams of four, racing relay-style for 200 laps (50 miles) along a quarter-mile (440 yards) cinder track. Thirty-three teams are selected in qualifications trials to compete in the main race. Money raised by the event goes towards a scholarship fund for working IU students.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_500

The Purdue Grand Prix is a go-kart race held annually on Purdue University's West Lafayette, Indiana campus since 1958. A primary function of the event is to raise money for scholarships for Purdue students under the aegis of the Purdue Grand Prix Foundation and its motto, "Students Helping Students."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purdue_Grand_Prix

If people who live in the area don't like the events, then they are free to go wherever they wish--just like my parents use to take our family on vacation when the Catholic Church held their annual barbecue (with plenty of alcohol consumed) across the street and the smoke blew towards our house. We may not have liked it and considered it to be a nuisance, but we knew that we couldn't stop it.

[TexasTowelie]

9. As I said, if they commit a crime like DUI or vandalism then they arrest them.

If they are intoxicated when they show up at the event or during the races, then arrest them.

Going after the students for MIP charges at a campus event is a bit too extreme though. I went to a small college that realized that students are going to drink no matter what the drinking age is set at legally. The administration realized that it was much safer for us to be within walking distance of our dorms/frat houses/apartments than to be driving to a larger city and endangering the public. We, as students and alums, made a point of watching after each other and our guests.

At some frat parties I attended when we saw a girl that consumed too much alcohol (whether at the frat house or elsewhere), then we made certain that she was escorted to a place of safety. A couple of years ago when I attended my college homecoming, the fraternity members took away the keys from one of the alums that was plastered and my friend drove him to his apartment 30 miles away and took him back to retrieve his vehicle the next day after he was sober. Is this a case where the people in Texas are more civilized than our neighbors to the north who so often criticize us?

[NuclearDem]

11. Massive underage drinking at IU. In other news, studies indicate water is in fact wet.