Borough targets drinking at clubs

Princeton Borough officials targeted underage drinking at the University's eating clubs this year following the adoption of a N.J. state law concerning the possession of alcohol on private property — and it remains unclear how the Borough will proceed when it returns to the issue in the fall.

The state law — which allowed municipalities to pass ordinances that would permit police to cite underage drinkers on private property — was signed by former Gov. Christie Whitman in June 2000 and carried fines of $250 for first offense and $350 for second offense in addition to other penalties such as loss of driver's license and community service.

Though originally designed to curb underage drinking in communities along the Jersey Shore — where high school students could drink in private residences with immunity — the ordinance soon spread to college towns including Ewing (College of New Jersey), Lawrence (Rider University) and Glassboro (Rowan University).

Before the Council last September, Borough Police Chief Thomas Michaud explained the law and read a strong recommendation in favor of the ordinance from Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel Giaquinto. The council then asked its public safety committee to discuss the ordinance and return to the full council with a recommendation.

"Many cases have spilled into the community," Michaud said at a special meeting of the public safety committee in March, referring to instances where intoxicated University students were brought to Princeton Medical Center and other local health care facilities. "We're on the threshold of disaster," he said.

University students quickly bemoaned the possibility of an ordinance — which council members admitted was meant to target underage drinking at the eating clubs. Former Inter-Club Council president Dan Winn '01 and other campus leaders encouraged students to change their voting registration from their home district to Princeton in order to support council members who opposed the ordinance.

Before council elections in November, nearly all council members, in addition to Borough Mayor Marvin Reed and Borough Administrator Bob Bruschi, expressed hesitation about such an ordinance. Some officials used terms like "absolutely" and "100 percent" to describe their level of opposition to the ordinance.

After elections, the ordinance remained dormant for several months while the public safety committee focused on livery licenses and awaited advice from community groups such as Corner House, which provides counseling for teenage substance abusers, and the Human Services Commission — a group that oversees the youth services department in addition to other groups. Many believed the ordinance was all but dead.

"It sounds like the momentum is slowed," former Borough Council president Roger Martindell said at the time. "The impetus to proceed seems to have diminished."

The ordinance resurfaced in February, however, after council members learned of dozens of alcohol-related injuries and sexual assaults that occurred on campus, some of which Borough Police linked to the eating clubs.

In November and December, Borough police arrested individuals involved with two sexual assaults that occurred on campus and were reported to Public Safety. The University usually goes years without police having to arrest a sexual offender for an incident on campus, Borough Police Capt. Charles Davall said.

In addition to these incidents, 15 students received medical attention at McCosh Health Center, Princeton Medical Center and Capital Health System in Trenton for alcohol-related injuries and severe intoxication during the weekend of eating club initiations, Feb. 9 and 10. Police believed all these incidents stemmed from excessive drinking at the eating clubs.

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In the wake of these incidents and prompted by monthly police reports, council members began to reexamine the issue in February. The long-awaited response from the Human Services Commission questioned the ordinance as dangerous, fearing it would deter ill minors from seeking help.

USG president Joe Kochan '02 was also vocal on the issue. "It's a hundred times more likely that someone will not seek medical attention but will be put to bed in a room where he can't get the help he needs, and that student will die," he said in opposition to the ordinance.

But the discussion finally reached a climax at the public safety committee meeting in March when the committee recommended the ordinance to the full council for discussion.

In addition, the public safety committee requested information about the ICC's efforts to regulate underage drinking at the eating clubs. The ordinance was a major concern at ICC meetings and spurred eating club officers to begin using wristbands to identify legal drinkers.

ICC adviser Mary Alice Teti '00 said the eating clubs are doing everything in their power to control underage drinking. "I think the wristbands have been effective," she said.

Because a public hearing about the ordinance likely would have fallen during students' final exam period, Borough Mayor Marvin Reed decided in April to postpone discussion of the ordinance until September.

Support for the ordinance among council members has been split since the February initiations. It remains unclear what the council will do with the ordinance if and when it comes up for discussion.