Alcohol arrests double

The 217 citations issued for illegal consumption by the IU Police Department this month more than double last September's total of 94.\nAnd the month isn't even over.\nUniversity officials say the spike in citations is not a cause for concern. Some students say it is; they say IU's party school ranking has made them targets of local police.\nSgt. Tim Lewis said there has been no change of policy at IUPD.\n"The only thing the numbers tell me is that we are running into more people breaking the law," he said.\nLewis said some large busts -- including a house party on Union Street where 47 citations were issued -- have skewed the numbers.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said the alcohol problem is overestimated, citing a national survey in which 15 percent of the IU student body was found to have never consumed an alcoholic beverage.\n"Most people think alcohol abuse is a problem, which it is, but most tend to overestimate the problem," McKaig said. "Responsible action by students will alleviate the number of citations issued."\nMcKaig said the University's alcohol policy hasn't changed in the 30 years he has been at IU.\n"You have to be 21 in the state of Indiana to consume alcohol, and IU does not endorse any policy which breaks state or federal law," McKaig said.\nFreshman Nathan Adams, who was recently cited for illegal consumption outside of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, said he questions IUPD's motivation for approaching him in the first place.\n"It's not fair that I got a citation when I didn't even call attention to myself," he said. "I was just sitting on the step talking on my cell phone, and they came up to me and made me take a breathalyzer.\n"It was pretty crude for them to do that because I only had one drink in me."\nAdams said he thinks the Princeton Review's recent ranking of IU as the No. 1 party school has affected the increase in citations issued.\n"I think since we got that ranking the faculty got pretty heated, and now they're cracking down," Adams said. "Now I have to watch my back and be concerned about my surroundings wherever I go."\nMcKaig said he does not think the escalation in the number of citations issued from last year to this year is anything to be alarmed about.\n"I have no reason to think this will be a continuing trend," McKaig said. "Trends tend to be based on a longer period of time. If we are looking at alcohol trends it would be better to look back over a period of time longer than a month"