The partying is OK. The blatant display of it is not.

One way to slow things down would be for the cities and the University to find a way to send Scott Cochrane a bill for damages. You create a holiday that requires extra law enforcement; you pay the tab.

Posted by Wenalway on February 27, 2008 at 5:26 PM

The bar owners, especially Cochrane need to be held accountable, but no more of this after-the-fact BS.

Temporary revocation of the ability to sell liquor in Campustown the second unofficial is announced. Make it clear that Cochrane is to blame, and the other bar owners will start ganging up on him.

It is completely within the City's rights, whether the council members and the mayor have the guts is another matter...

Bar owners should be required to pay for the extra policing as well as required to clean the sidewalks/streets of the block they are on a regular basis. I'm tired of walking past Kams and smelling the same stale beer that was there when I walked past when I was an undergrad. I'm tired of walking to work on Monday and having to avoid piles of puke by the bars. I'm tired of hearing of yet another student's life cut short/put at risk so Cochrane can make more money.

I'm all for going out and having a good time, getting a buzz on, etc. Promoting an event where the #1 goal is getting hammered is not teaching our students responsible drinking, and as such the licenses should be revoked.

Posted by dw on February 27, 2008 at 9:50 PM

I would hope they could make "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" a distant memory of the students' stupidity and lack of judgement, a distant memory someday.

They come to University of Illinois to get an education. While an occasional drinking binge may be understandable, such as to celebrate passing one's final exams; when it gets totally out of hand and becomes a threat to public safety of others, enough is enough!

It is especially inappropriate this year, in light of the recent shooting of students at Northern Illinois University. We cannot afford to take the risk of snother shooter coming to University of Illinois at a time when the students may be caught off guard from having hit the beers or the bottles a bit much.

We should still be in nourning for the students whose lives were cut short by the senseless shooting. My former minister at Wesley Foundation and Church, Rev. Miley Palmer, lost his granddaughter Ryanne Mace in the shootings.

It is totally inappropriate to celebrate in a drunken spree this soon after the "Valentine's day Massacre."

If we must have an "Unofficial," I would say to block off traffic in Campustown, perhaps set up the "snow fence" and create an area where students can carry out plastic or paper cups of beer--no bottles or cans that could hurt someone if thrown.

I think keg sales should be banned this weekend as well.

The bars should require not only a Driver's License ID but a U of I student ID as well. We need to get the word out that students from other campuses are NOT welcome at this event.

If they are driving themselves, they pose a safety risk as driving under the influence.

The extra police during this event is an undue burden on our taxpayers. We are nickeled and dimed to death enough as it is, for paying for the Boneyard Project, the new Library, Campustown 2000, and now the many streets that need potholes repaired.

The entire extra cost needs to be borne by the bar owners who are promoting this "holiday" in the first place. I would suggest a surcharge on all alcoholic beverages sold during this event to recover the costs. We poor folks who do not drink should not be burdened by this cost through our taxes, if the event must take place.

Hash Wednesday used to be a big event on the Quad, with a lot of smoking paraphernalia and much beer can and bottle litter on campus. A bar was promoting cpontests to see who could drink the most "Little King's Beer."

The event gradually ran itself into the ground, with only a few peaceful discussions on drug abuse that day, traditiuonally the third Wednesday in April.

"Unofficial St. Patrick's Day" needs to stop altogether. The students can drink to their heart's content, somewhere else on the "Real" St. Patrick's Day, away from campus during Spring Break. But we don't need them to make such a nuisance of themselves, and endanger others who don't drink, while on campus.

We must get the word out that students from other campuses need not come to University of Illinois this weekend. Why not wait till next weekend to take in the Open Houses, if they must make a road trip to Champaign-Urbana?

The hospitals are overburdened with emergency room visits from students passed out from intoxication. One accident or death from somneone's driving under the influence, is one too many! The extra hospitalization costs are passed on to all of us through higher hospital bills and insurance premiums. Clearly, we cannot afford to allow such a drinking celebration to continue.

If the students want to have a T-shirt to celebrate and become a souvenir of the weekend, and spend their money on, OK. But don't let the drinking get out of control.

Maybe at least one bar should serve only soft drinks and have a special band playing there to attract business.

That would give other students a place to go, those who don't want to be involved with all the drunkenness.

Certainly Cochrane's should bear all extra costs of promoting such an Unofficial St. Patrick's Day so the rest of us don't have to. It is time to end "Unofficial" once and for all!

Posted by Urpetybana on February 27, 2008 at 10:26 PM

I am very concerned about the rise in sexual assaults when there is heavy drinking. Could you look for and comment on signs of assault (groping, harassing, leering, etc...)?

Posted by cucitizen on February 28, 2008 at 4:28 AM

Is there anyway we can take our wasted tax money and just mail it directly to Cochrane's house so we can avoid all this again. The city won't be doing anything special, they love the tax revs and as we know from the past, Cochrane cares only about himself. At the very least, maybe let us use our tax dollars in their "legal" poker machines than no one seems to ever care about as while the VFW down the street is fined for bingo.

Posted by aocccc on February 28, 2008 at 6:17 AM