Police bust house party
Students receive more than $19,000 in citations
DJ Slater
Issue date: 9/19/05 Section: Campus News
"The basement was so packed that I couldn't squeeze through to warn anybody," Valentino said. "I went back outside and I was standing on our front lawn ... and a cop car drives along the side of the street and we're kind of like, 'What the heck's going on?' "
Hyland said the officers had the students form a line out the front and back doors of the house to give each one a citation. Junior resident Keith Erickson said he couldn't believe what happened and thought the police usually fine the house and just force everyone else to leave.
"There's nothing we can really do about it," Erickson said about the citations.
While the method may have come as a surprise to the 833 Chippewa St. residents, Jodi Thesing-Ritter, the associate dean of Student Development and Diversity, said it's part of the open dialogue between the university and the Eau Claire police to reduce high-risk drinking among students.
"The kinds of blood-alcohol counts that I have seen in the last two weeks illustrates for me that students are participating in very risky drinking behaviors," Thesing-Ritter said. "Enforcement will have to be part of the puzzle."
The $300,000 grant to reduce high risk drinking has gone into effect, but it does not pay the city police overtime for enforcement, only university police, she said.
"The environment needs to change," she said. "We have to do more or we're going to lose another student."
Hyland said the officers had the students form a line out the front and back doors of the house to give each one a citation. Junior resident Keith Erickson said he couldn't believe what happened and thought the police usually fine the house and just force everyone else to leave.
"There's nothing we can really do about it," Erickson said about the citations.
While the method may have come as a surprise to the 833 Chippewa St. residents, Jodi Thesing-Ritter, the associate dean of Student Development and Diversity, said it's part of the open dialogue between the university and the Eau Claire police to reduce high-risk drinking among students.
"The kinds of blood-alcohol counts that I have seen in the last two weeks illustrates for me that students are participating in very risky drinking behaviors," Thesing-Ritter said. "Enforcement will have to be part of the puzzle."
The $300,000 grant to reduce high risk drinking has gone into effect, but it does not pay the city police overtime for enforcement, only university police, she said.
"The environment needs to change," she said. "We have to do more or we're going to lose another student."