An ambling mass of students crowded the sidewalks from South Illinois Avenue to keg parties in Carbondale’s back streets last Friday evening.

Shouts of Where’s the party? echoed across the pavement and were absorbed by the sounds of laughter and talking.

Police cars cruised by every five minutes, criss-crossing paths as they watched for open beer bottles traveling in the hands of an unaware student.

Advertisement

Among those party-goers were underage drinkers. Many in this group said they were moving away from the bars on the strip in an attempt to find easier access to alcohol without restrictions.

Drinking is the most fun thing to do for people our age, said Tim, a 20-year-old SIUC student. I drank my first week down here. There’s beer everywhere- I mean, it’s a college town.

The Carbondale City Council is aware of this mentality. The Council has continuously upped the bar entry age over the past two years from 18 to the current entry age of 20. The entry age will turn to 21 on July 1, 1996.

The new bar entry age, keg restrictions, and drinking in general were among the topics most students discussed after consuming five or six beers of their own at various keggers last weekend.

The keg situation will be beat in a week, one student said. To keep it fair, I think you should be able to buy a keg until the bars close.

This school is not academic- It’s all about beer and sex! the girl slurred with her head hanging off the bench she was laying on.

Other students did not quite agree.

Advertisement*

I didn’t know about Carbondale’s party label until I got here, Belinda, 19, said. It’s just like every other school.

Not unlike beer goggles, where one perceives another to be exceptionally physically proportioned when under the influence of alcohol, beer ears seemed to have hit the party scene on the first weekend back to campus.

Do you know LaBamba, man, Tom said to Joe, referring to the Burritos as big as your head restaurant on the strip.

Of course, man, I can play it, Joe said, believing his friend was discussing the catchy Spanish tune played by Richie Valens.

This conversation followed the same lines for several minutes, with neither party realizing what the other was really talking about.

Joe and Tom also happened to have graduated in the same class, but Joe said he has the unfortunate circumstance of being 20 while Tom is 21.

That’s like totally uncool, Joe said. Everyone that has a student I.D. should be able to go to the bars.

More underage men who were questioned by D.E. reporters had access to fake identification than women.

Oh my God, you want to talk about sexual discrimination, Brian said. (Underage) girls always get into bars.

Some students said bars seem to be a better place than keg parties for regulating a party crowd.

I’m more worried in bars, it’s harder to run away if the cops catch you, Joe said. If you’re at a house at least you can jump a fence or hide somewhere.

Alyssa said she found that bars are a more controlled environment than keg parties.

It’s safer in bars, Alyssa said. It is more dangerous in the streets with the people out walking everywhere.

In a bar you are not going to walk into some room and get raped.

One of the current trends in party hopping seems to be the use of a backpack. Instead of carrying books, some students use these bags to carry six or 12 packs of beer or other types of alcohol to various parties around town.

I’m set, one student said, adjusting his maroon backpack after taking a beer out of the bag.

Greek organizations might also capitalize on the tighter restrictions on underage drinking, with both fraternities and sororities coming into play in the near future.

I think it will definitely help the Greek system, Josh said. People looking for a party will find sororities and fraternities as the place to go.

It’s easier for girls to get into frat parties, Belinda said. There are always more underage girls at frat parties than underage guys at sorority parties.

If alcohol were not available, many students said they would turn to other types of recreational drugs.

If I couldn’t drink, I would smoke reefer- that’s mandatory, said Eric.

Just smoke reefer and hang in there, man, said Matt.