Ask a group of students how much alcohol is in a classic can of Four Loko, and they’d probably guess wrongly on the first few tries.
And in a shot glass, or a mug of cool ale? Or even the cost of a Champaign drinking ticket?
Representatives from the University, Champaign, and Urbana police departments were answering questions like these for a safety seminar titled “Officially Be Safe for Unofficial.”
Students received free safety T-shirts, wristbands, and whistles along with their answers on the upcoming Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day Celebration on Friday, March 4. University Police Department Patrol Division Commander Lt. Skip Frost stressed that students should “be aware of your surroundings” when out on the weekend.
“Not only look out for yourself, look out for your friends”, Frost said. “Even if you are in control, that doesn’t mean the people around you won’t be in control. Some people can really do some incredibly silly things when intoxicated.”
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He also recommended that students should know “your rights, but also know your responsibilities.”
“I think a lot of students, if they’re not familiar with the student code, can be violating it without knowing it.” Frost was most concerned about the balconies, especially on high-rise apartments.
“I am scared to death that we’re going to see a fatality,” Frost said. “If someone drops a beer can off the 15th floor, by the time it hits the ground, if it’s half full it’s traveling at a very high rate of speed at somebody who doesn’t even see it coming, that can cause a significant injury or even brain damage.”
Scott Friedlein of the Champaign Police Department said he thought the number one safety tip was to not “drink in excess.”
“We need to get control of this (event), and it’s beyond our campus now,” Friedlein said. “Two years ago our arrest data represented people from 12 different states and 56 colleges or universities, and last year we started to get more of a handle on it and we were down to 47 different colleges.”
Cloud Router, freshman in LAS, said the most important tip he left with was to not drink for the weekend.
“That’s basically what they’re saying,” Router said.
Dan Eckel, freshman in Business, said he was most worried about events becoming a “Crime-Alert.”
“There are serious repercussions if you’re walking around with alcohol or using a fake I.D,” Eckel said. “Everyone thinks it’s not going to happen to them.”
