Officials must do more to stop students' fake IDs

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September 1, 2010

Anonymous Daily Star The Daily Star Thu Sep 02, 2010, 09:57 AM EDT

As reliable as swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano each March, our area's college students return to Oneonta's bars in August to _ well _ swallow.

With the aid of a vibrant underground industry that supplies them with fake identification, students younger than the legal drinking age of 21 swallow beer, wine and whatever else is set before them on the bar.

The State University College at Oneonta, Hartwick College, the police, the bar owners and the city of Oneonta all claim to be doing what they can to keep alcohol out of the hands of underage students.

But that would be awfully tough to _ yes _ swallow, even if we could keep from laughing while listening to such nonsense.

Seven of the nine SUCO students we interviewed for a story that appeared on the front page of The Daily Star's Weekend edition said they had fake IDs, and the other two said they were considering getting one.

To their credit, the police make a show of force early in the fall semester, leading to a plethora of names appearing in the newspaper's arrest reports.

Perhaps if those students realized just how damaging those arrests can be, they would think twice about what they are doing. The arrest reports remain in the newspaper's archives and frequently come up years later in online searches by prospective employers.

But the police cannot devote all their time to enforcing laws that the colleges, city and bar owners have essentially ignored, their pious statements to the contrary notwithstanding.

If the colleges were truly serious about stopping their students from obtaining fake IDs, they would have a policy of suspending anyone caught with one, and expelling anyone convicted on the charge.

But they don't.

College-organized non-alcoholic events to give the students something to do other than drink are fine, as far as they go, but only as far as they go. The students are still easily obtaining their fake IDs, and using them.

The bar owners could purchase more-sophisticated sensors that would reveal false driver's licenses and other IDs, or at least require multiple forms of identification before letting some kid in to drink.

The city has an obvious financial stake in students spending money downtown. Mayor Dick Miller said he sends letters to the parents of arrested students, and that is admirable. But he also said the city has no specific initiatives regarding false IDs.

Students are smart, if not always wise. They know a wink and a nod when they see them. They know their IDs aren't all that's fake about efforts to cut down on underage drinking in Oneonta.