Students to go to court for MIPs

Numerous University students had their day in court yesterday after the Ann Arbor Police Department ticketed them for being minors in possession of alcohol within the past month.

Whether they wore business attire or khakis and gym shoes, the atmosphere in the Washtenaw County Courthouse was light yet cautious. Many of the minors shunned cameras and media.

With many of their parents sitting sternly in the back of the courtroom, most of the minors sat with smirks on their faces, dismayed at what they described as the menial charge forcing them to appear in court.

The Minors in Possession of alcohol tickets the underage students received could be reported on their driving records.

Washtenaw County provided the youths the opportunity to have the charge dismissed. Of the group charged, only three plead not guilty yesterday.

KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily An underage person who received a Minor in Possession of alcohol citation hangs his head at the Washtenaw County Courthouse yesterday. Many of those charged were students.

Individuals who are first offenders can pay $50 in court costs and $50 to the Spectrum Program, a two-hour alcohol awareness class.

Once individuals complete the class and all payments, a judge will review the case again, and the case will most likely be dismissed.

Second offenders can take advantage of the Spectrum program and pay the same fees, but their licenses could still be suspended for 90 to 180 days.

First or second-time offenders who do not complete the program or pay court costs will have the offense reported on their driving record.

One individual who wished to remain anonymous said his house was raided by the AAPD. The student, a minor at the University, also said his parents were not upset with his ticket because they know he is a responsible drinker.

The consensus of many of the minors was that because of the death of LSA first-year student Courtney Cantor, and the recent drinking-related death of a Michigan State University student, the AAPD was trying to make an example of the Greek system and college students. Cantor, who died in October after falling from her sixth-floor Mary Markley Residence Hall window, was seen drinking at a Phi Delta Theta fraternity party the night before her death.

One student who received an MIP and who wishes to remain anonymous said AAPD's efforts to stop underage drinking have been useless.

"I will just take more steps so that I won't get caught," he said.

He also said that before today he believed the police were cracking down because of Cantor and the MSU death. But after the fines minors received, he questions if the city and AAPD is profiting from the whole ordeal.

Officer Alicia Green of the AAPD said the police department has ticketed minors in possession of alcohol long before alcohol-related incidents occurred across the state.

"We'd written at least 300 tickets up until the undercover operations began," Green said.

11-25-98