Students Request More Education Of Alcohol Policy

Freshmen Jacki Fritz and Michael Dorfman were in a Hinton James Residence Hall room with open alcoholic beverages when four University police officers issued citations to both of them.

But the students said they were not drinking.

Dorfman said the citation will force him to take a class in responsible alcohol use, complete community service and pay a $25 fine. But he claims court fees, combined with the costs of taking the class and completing community service, will total about $300.

Fritz said the incident began when she met six friends for another friend's surprise birthday party in the room. She said that although the celebration involved alcohol and there were underage drinkers in the room, she did not drink.

Fritz said a resident assistant encountered the celebration and asked to see two of the girls' identifications before calling University police.

Dorfman said he was in the room visiting one of the party's hosts and had only been there for five minutes when the police arrived. He claimed he was aware there would be a party in the room before going but didn't know there would be alcohol.

When the police arrived, they asked to see the identifications of all the people in the room and proceeded to issue citations to everyone. But Dorfman said the police didn't make any attempt to determine whether he had any alcohol in his possession.

Don Appairius, assistant dean of students, said he could not talk about the specific incident that occurred April 2. But he said that in instances when an officer might not be able to differentiate between students who have not been drinking and those that have, citations can be given to everyone in the room in the presence of open alcoholic beverages.

Fritz said she asked one of the officers, Lt. C.E. Swain, to allow her to take an intoxilizer test, but Swain refused.

A second officer agreed to administer the test, but Swain interjected and again declared that Fritz would not be allowed to take the test, Fritz said.

Maj. Jeff McCracken said the officers were not required to give an intoxilizer test because the citations could be given based on possession, rather than consumption, of alcohol.

But Appairius said he encourages students to obtain proof of innocence at the scene whenever possible. "If you are in a situation where you know you haven't done anything wrong, you try to get proof on the spot," he said.

Appairius said UNC's alcohol policy follows that of local and state ordinances and states that persons under the age of 21 cannot purchase or possess alcoholic beverages.

He said that when students come to him for consultation after receiving a citation, he generally uses an educational approach to teach more responsible use of alcohol.

"Our office prides itself on being as much of an advocate for its students as it is for its policy," he said. "We're not here to tell you not to drink, you're going to drink regardless ... It does us no good to educate people in the classroom and not educate them about responsible alcohol use."

Dorfman said he thinks many students are unaware of the campus alcohol policy. "From the people that I've talked to about this incident ... they had no idea that this policy existed."

Fritz also said she believes there is a need for greater awareness of the policy on campus. "I want the school to have a guideline," she said. "I want students to be aware of what's right and what's wrong and what students can be liable for."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.