Each year students arrive in August ready to hit the books, but when they hit the bottle too, law enforcers object.
During the first months of the Fall 2005 semester, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement officers increased efforts around local universities to control underage drinking, doling out more than 200 citations to Duke students for alcohol-related violations.
"We routinely, either at the beginning of the [fall] semester or the beginning of the spring semester, have some extra agents around in the college areas," said Jeff Lasater, ALE Raleigh district supervisor.
Formal planning for any potential back-to-school operation this year will not take place before August, Lasater said.
Duke Student Government, anticipating problems fueled by off-campus parties, created a community liaison position to bolster relations between Duke and Durham. Senior Daniel Bowes, who was appointed to the position, is focusing on fostering personal relations between students living off campus and their neighbors.
Historically, residents living near the University in neighborhoods like Trinity Park have expressed frustration over rowdy parties hosted by student-neighbors.
Alice Bumgarner, president of the Trinity Park Neighborhood Association, stressed that the relationships between full-time residents and students vary from year to year, and this year residents are hoping for a more positive climate.
"We're looking forward to having different kinds of relationships than standing around on your front lawn at 2 a.m. yelling back and forth," Bumgarner said.
In 2005, students were surprised and angered by encounters with officers-some of whom were undercover--at parties in off-campus houses, bars and clubs. ALE agents handed out citations for underage drinking, possession of fake identification and aiding and abetting underage possession.
Lasater said officers focus on places that sell alcohol, although they will also respond to calls from residential areas.
"After hearing about all of the citations I generally tried to stay on campus," said sophomore David Berendes, who was friends with several students who were in attendance at off-campus parties inspected by ALE last year.
A number of students who received citations challenged the constitutionality of certain methods used-such as entering houses without warrants-and won the court case.
Nonetheless, Lasater said he doubted ALE would change its procedures dramatically.
"We may tweak things," he said. "But, then again, with another judge the ruling might have been different."
Administrators have said the problem lies in the culture of the social scene itself.
"This is not a quick fix," said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. "We've been working on it, some would argue, for decades."
The potential for ALE raids may act as a deterrent to the kind of play-hard behavior administrators find troubling.
"It makes me nervous to think that there's stricter control of what's going on," said freshman Jen Regan, who heard about last year's citations from her sophomore brother. "Although maybe if it's out of hand, [the control] is a good thing."
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