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The Red & Black | Thursday, August 31, 2006 | 3A
Bar owners, coalition
discuss alcohol issues
By AUDREY GOODSON
agoodson@randb.com
and
By BRIAN HUGHES
bhughes@randb.com
Regardless of how diligent
downtown bars are in crack
ing down on underage drink
ing, they can only do so much
to combat the issue, said an
employee from a Broad Street
bar.
Beyond checking IDs at
the door and putting
bracelets on bar patrons
under 21-years-old, Mark
Woods, technical director of
the Ritz, said it was impossi
ble to catch all illegal drink
ing.
“It would be easy to say the
problem is simply due to
bars,” he said.
“The issue is so much more
complicated.”
Woods shared some of his
thoughts Tuesday with mem
bers of the Campus-
Community Alcohol
Coalition, a group made up of
community, University and
police officials.
David Lee, owner of the
Eastwood Pub on Gaines
School Road, was among the
four bar owners present at
the meeting.
He said the most effective
way to reduce underage
drinking would be to restrict
people between 18 and 20-
years-old from entering bars
that only sell alcohol.
“If they can’t drink, why
should they be let in?” he
said.
Coalition Chairwoman and
Assistant Vice
President for Student
Affairs Pat Daugherty
said the meeting was
an effective discussion
among leaders in the
community.
“We’re just trying to
find the most plausible
approach (to stop
underage drinking),”
she said.
The coalition
meets every month, but
University Chief of Police
Jimmy Williamson, one of its
members, said this meeting
was more effective because it
was the first time multiple bar
owners were present.
“This issue isn’t going
away overnight. We
still have a lot of work
to do. ”
PAT DAUGHERTY
Coalition Chairwoman and
Assistant Vice President for
Student Affairs
Stricter police enforce
ment, more sophisticated
fake ID recognition and
increased training for door
men and servers were some of
the ideas discussed.
However, no long-term
decisions were made,
Williamson said.
Woods compared
the prospect of pre
venting college stu
dents from drinking to
“pushing a boulder up
a hill.”
He added that par
ents and educators
needed to reach stu
dents as early as mid
dle school because so
many people are intro
duced to drinking at
an early age.
Woods said the University
has made vast improvements
in controlling alcohol use
since he was an undergradu
ate in the early ‘90s.
“It wasn’t long ago that
Milledge was lined with keg
parties every day,” he said.
Williamson said increased
policing wouldn’t be the sole
solution.
“We feel enforcement is our
role, but we also want much
more community involve
ment.”
Woods said many of
the severe problems associat
ed with underage drinking
happen away from downtown
because it takes police
longer to respond to those
areas.
Daugherty said the coali
tion would meet again next
month to continue the
debate.
“This issue isn’t going away
overnight,” she said. “We still
have a lot of work to do.”
WILLIAMSON
MAYOR: Candidates provide
underage drinking remedies
>- From Page 1A
public urination and notify
the ACC Health Department
of possible violations in bars.
Charlie Maddox, a pastor
at Twin Oaks Baptist Church
in Washington, said he places
responsibility for Athens’
drinking problem on students
and their parents.
“These are not little chil
dren. If they’re smart enough
to go to UGA, then they are
smart enough to make the
right decisions,” he said.
Maddox added when his
two daughters moved away to
college, they knew they still
had to answer to him.
Maddox urges parents of
University students to make
sure their children under
stand they will still be held
accountable.
Although Rusk doesn’t
think Athens has a drinking
problem, he admits if police
were to check IDs in certain
bars they would find many
underage drinkers.
Rusk said he does not
believe Athens-Clarke County
should increase the minimum
age to get into a bar since
many underage people come
to Athens to hear bands play
ing in bars.
The mayor and commis
sion have no direct influence
on when and where police
raids are carried out, said
ACC Manager Alan Reddish.
Reddish said the Mayor
and Commission have a wide-
range of powers relating to
underage drinking, including
setting times alcohol can be
distributed, increasing
aggressiveness of enforce
ment and setting ordinances
describing fines for bars dis
tributing alcohol to minors.
MAYORAL CANDIDATES
TOM CHASTEEN
▲
HEIDI DAVISON CHARLIE MADDOX
RICHARD DE ROSE ANDY RUSK
▲ ▲
PILL: Morning-after pill often
mistaken for abortion pill
>- From Page 1A
replace traditional methods
of birth control.
“We don’t recommend it as
a regular form of birth control
because it is not as effective
as other forms and it’s expen
sive — not because it isn’t
safe,” Cohen said.
“We recommend it be used
in the case of emergencies
only.”
Cohen also disputes critics
who say the pill will increase
promiscuity and said research
shows the emergency contra
ceptive doesn’t increase
promiscuity.
Plan B works by prevent
ing ovulation and implanta
tion.
Plan B sometimes is con
fused with RU486, often
referred to as the abortion
pill.
“There is a big difference
between RU486 and Plan B,”
Cohen said. “RU486 actually
terminates a pregnancy, Plan
B prevents it. If an egg is
already implanted, Plan B will
not harm it.”
Plan B is the trade name
for the product that contains
two levonorgestrel 0.75 mg
tablets, which is a proges
terone, said Jack Fincham,
professor of pharmacy care.
One pill is taken as soon as
possible, and the other is
taken 12 hours later.
“It is safe for women to use
without a prescription,” he
said. “It’s been used this way
in the United Kingdom now
for many years.”
Most birth control pills
contain both an estrogen and
a progesterone and are
thought to cause more side
effects than the progesterone
—only birth control pills like
Plan B.
“It has very similar side-
effects to ‘regular birth con
trol pills’, which could include
nausea, stomach pain, head
ache, dizziness and may cause
breast tenderness,” Fincham
said.
Plan B will not be available
to purchase without a pre
scription for a few months.
One student said she has
mixed views on the pill.
“On the one hand, it’s good
for people without insurance
or who are too scared to go to
the doctor,” said Natalie
Arford, a senior from
Marietta.
“It’s also scary, though,
that it might become another
regularly—used contracep
tive, and I don’t know what
the possible effects are for
using the pills like that.”
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