Students protest keg-free Muncie

MUNCIE -- Two men with ties to Ball State University are hoping their marketing effort will prompt liquor store owners to resume selling beer kegs in the city.\nBall State graduate Jason Brewer and student Justin Dyer have created a line of apparel -- from T-shirts to underwear -- with such slogans as "I'm Sober Thanks to Muncie" and "I Survived the Muncie Keg Drought of '05."\nThe pair have named their effort "Project Retap Muncie," and say they hope beer sellers in will reconsider their decision to stop selling kegs, a move that has frustrated some university students.\n"We were just joking around one day and we started coming up with these slogans," Brewer, who lived with Dyer while attending Ball State, told The Star Press. "That's when we thought, 'You know what, these would make really good T-shirts.'"\nThe two are selling their merchandise on www.CafePress.com, a Web site offering sellers e-commerce services for their creations. Costs range from $9.99 to $27.99.\n"So far we've had close to 50 orders," said Dyer, a finance and risk management major. Brewer said he and his friend are not looking to start a T-shirt business but attempting to find the humor in what they consider a "bleak" situation.\nA total of 12 Muncie liquor stores ceased keg sales in August. Store owners say they hoped to ditch low profits from kegs, compared with beer sold by the case. Some say they also hope the move will help cut down on alcohol-related violence and accidents.