Students protest Ball State policy

MUNCIE -- Some Ball State University students say the school's efforts to control underage drinking are not working and are worsening relations between students and campus police.\nThe University instituted a public-awareness campaign and zero-tolerance policy last semester after the violent deaths of two students who had been drinking.\nIt also has sent out mailings and published ads in the student newspaper detailing the dangers of drinking. It is spending $200,000 this year for comedy shows and a carnival as alternatives to house parties.\nSoon after classes began last month, six people were arrested and 31 others cited for alcohol-related offenses at two off-campus parties, police said.\nEmotions over the "Police Yourself" program are still running high, student Casey Funk, 22, a senior from Huntington, told The Indianapolis Star for a Monday story.\n"I feel hostility," she said of the university police. "It upsets me. They are over-aggressive."\nCampus officers are following the department's zero-tolerance orders under which underage students caught drinking automatically are cited.\nBut officers are targeting those who are obviously drunk and appear to be a danger to themselves or others, said Gene Burton, the university's director of public safety.\nIt is too early to tell whether the efforts have reduced underage drinking, but they have increased public awareness, said Randy E. Hyman, associate vice president for student services.\n"It's enormously successful," Hyman said. "It's a wonderful way to get students' attention."\nThe campaign began after the death of 21-year-old Michael McKinney, who was shot by a campus policeman in November. McKinney, a junior marketing major from Bedford, had been drinking and, apparently disoriented, tried to enter someone else's house.\nIn March, Karl Harford, 20, of Carmel, was robbed and fatally shot after he offered three people a ride home from an off-campus party. Autopsy results showed Harford had been drinking.\nBall State leaders responded by ordering members of the 31-member campus police force to add patrols Friday and Saturday nights. Officers also patrolled neighborhoods near campus to talk to students about responsible drinking.\nSome students still are angry over the McKinney shooting, said Benjamin Tietz, president of the Student Government Association.\nA grand jury last December cleared the campus policeman of any criminal wrongdoing in the shooting. McKinney's family has filed a lawsuit against the university.\n"Some students feel the university has no business telling them what to do away from (campus)," Tietz said.\nCity police are targeting only large parties with 20 or more people, said Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle.