Partying continues amid tightened rules

It's March 21, 2002. The IU men's basketball team is facing Duke in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Only the Hoosier faithful consider IU a worthy opponent against the powerhouse, and no one expects IU to win. Despite all of the odds and expectations against them, IU players edge Duke 74-73. The campus goes crazy.\n"It was insane," junior Dan Loomis said. "People were pulling down trees and lighting them on fire."\nLoomis, who was at Showalter Fountain at the time celebrating the experience with thousands of other students, said he hasn't seen campus like it since -- and doesn't expect to anytime soon. But even though he said that won't happen again, he admitted the partying that accompanied it continues every day.\nJust like every other semester, last semester fed students with a steady diet of books and beers. While some students prefer the books, others continue to turn to alternative ways of experiencing college, leaving the University and the IU police department with plenty of responsibilities.\nLt. Jerry Minger of the IU police department said last semester was not significantly different than years past, but instead the problems accompanied with partying continue to be prevalent on campus. Minger, who has been with the IU police department since 1972, said trends in partying have been constant for a while.\n"I don't think there is any more drinking or drug use," he said. "But I really don't think there has been any less either. Numbers change, but those reflect changes in procedures."\nAmong the changes, Minger said the number of citations for driving under the influence have steadily increased over the years. He said it is because of grants that allow the police to concentrate more effectively on drunk driving. \n"We have been able to assign officers whose sole function is to look for drunk drivers," he says. "In the past, we didn't have this kind of ability."\nMinger also said, in the past, officers were forced to incarcerate illegally intoxicated individuals. Now they are allowed to write citations to those who do not seem to be of any danger.\n"I don't like arresting people," he said. "With writing citations, people are a lot more accepting of the consequences of their actions, and it creates a lot of time to focus on other incidents."\nLiving in the Varsity Villas, Loomis said he doesn't feel police involvement is overwhelming. And despite the fast and easy process of writing citations, he said the parties remain constant around him.\n"I'd say the average student drinks about three times a week," he said. "It can get pretty loud around here sometimes, but I don't see it as a big problem. I think students can handle themselves."\nWhile Dean of Students Richard McKaig said he realizes students are old enough to handle themselves and want to party, he also said it needs to be contained to promote a healthy campus.\n"Partying in itself isn't bad," he says. "It's the other things that accompany it creating the problems on campus."\nIn particular last semester, McKaig said tailgating at football games became a real issue. He said he felt the university dealt with the problems accordingly and will continue to deal with them next year.\n"My general impression is that we've avoided some of the problems we've had in the past," he said. "We just need to keep going the way we've been."\nMcKaig downplayed the significance of the Princeton Review naming IU the number three party school this year.\n"I never felt that it was a valid study," McKaig said. "The student body wasn't the number one party school, but they do know how to have a good time."\nAs far as the students are concerned, Loomis has had no problem having a good time. \n"If you want a party," he said, "you can find it."\n-- Contact staff writer Jess Huffman at jerhuffm@indiana.edu.