Local and state officials again plan to do everything they can to discourage misbehavior at what has become an annual daylong drinking binge.

The event, known as Unofficial St. Patrick's Day since it was developed as a promotion by a local bar owner in 1996 to capture business lost when students left town for spring break, has grown to attract young people from other campuses and communities.

Scott Cochrane, owner of Firehaus, C.O. Daniels and several other bars, said in a phone interview with The News-Gazette that he is not promoting the event this year, though he still holds the rights to the name.

"It's so large," Cochrane said. "It was only in my store, but it took on its own life. What happened was outside of my control."

The event, which grew to a two-day event last year, has become a problem in recent years with disruption of classes, destruction of property and injuries resulting from excess drinking. A female UI graduate wearing a green Unofficial T-shirt was killed when she fell off a motorcycle in Campustown, an accident that police said was alcohol-related.

City, county and state officials have met in recent weeks to plan strategies to prevent or reduce problems this year.

"We want to deter people from coming," said Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart, also the city's liquor commissioner.

Cochrane said he doesn't want students from other campuses coming to town.

"We don't want any unnecessary headaches," Cochrane said. "I never condoned these kids getting drunk and going to class. Hopefully, everybody will act responsible.

"I think the city has done a good job of control."

Last year, emergency rules issued by Schweighart called for a voluntary 21-year-old entry age for campus bars, rather than the normal entry age of 19. That had some success, he said.

Plans this year call for a temporary mandatory bar entry age of 21 for all Champaign bars between State and Wright streets and Chalmers and Washington streets.

With many people taking their Unofficial celebrations to private parties, local police will focus their attention on off-campus apartments and houses, Schweighart said.

The mayor said officials learned last year the bars knew there would be strict enforcement of capacity limits, so they kept their admissions to 20 percent below the cap. As a result, there were more private parties.

This year, with many new apartment buildings, those problems could be bigger, he said.

Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney said Champaign, Urbana and UI police, along with state troopers and sheriff's deputies, will again this year show a "heavy uniform presence.

"The (state) liquor commission will be concentrating on the bars, so we can concentrate on party issues," Finney said. "We will deal with problem parties."

Finney said police will look for problems of noise, parking, multiple kegs, underage drinking and unlicensed admission fees. Authorities also will watch for overcrowded balconies or people throwing objects from balconies.

"We will aggressively deal with disorderly conduct," he said.

Champaign police Lt. Brad Yohnka said patrols will watch for fights, criminal damage to property, repeat complaints of loud music, speeding or drunk driving.

Lainie Krozel, executive director of the state liquor commission, said agents will again this year be checking all liquor-license holders in the campus area. Last year, they issued 30 citations for serving alcohol to minors at 15 locations. They also issued 15 other citations for other violations, such as "happy hour" liquor sales where a wrist band or stamp entitled customers to unlimited alcohol in a specific time frame.

"It is a privilege to hold a liquor license and we will be ready to take action where we find noncompliance," Krozel said.

UI Assistant Police Chief Jeff Christensen said Unofficial is "not a welcome event."

The campus police will be working with the dean's office, housing officials and others to prevent disruption of classes, he said. As with last year, the university will prohibit non-students from staying in the dorms.

Police will also patrol parking decks and lots, he said. Vehicles without permits will be towed. Patrols also will check for people sleeping in cars.

"We will put as many deterrents as we can," Christensen said. "Everything will be zero-tolerance. If you think you can walk down the street carrying open alcohol, you better think again."

Lt. Skip Frost, UI patrol supervisor, said all the precautions and plans are to keep people safe.

"If this event is going to keep going, we are going to do everything we can to keep you safe," Frost said.

"The cities and the state police and state agencies continue to be real partners in trying to address this," University of Illinois Associate Chancellor Peg Rawles said.

Rawles said officials hope people will lose interest in the event.

"It is added expense in a difficult time and a diversion of public safety resources from the typical ways those resources are used. It's a terrible drain," Rawles said.

As in previous years the university plans to send a letter from Chancellor Richard Herman to parents of undergraduates, informing them about the event, which is not supported or endorsed by the university. A message also will be sent to students informing them about the consequences of violating state laws or municipal ordinances.

Campus police, administrators and other staff members also will monitor classrooms.

"We'll be using the same resources (as last year) to make sure our classrooms are not disrupted," Rawles said.

UI isn't only campus with binge-drinking event

Campus drinking events are common, officials say.

George Dowdall, professor of sociology at St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, said his campus has an annual tradition called the "100 days celebration," in which students gather to mark 100 days before graduation.

The University of Pennsylvania, also in Philadelphia, has a Spring Fling, he said. That event is like a carnival with games, food and music, but alcohol is part of the fun for some college students.

What's different about Unofficial St. Patrick's Day, where University of Illinois students and those from other campuses gather, is that the main purpose is daylong drinking, officials say.

Dowdall, author of a recent book called "College Drinking: Reframing a Social Problem," said his research shows most college students don't binge drink, but many do.

He said, "The data tends to show that 44 percent of college-age youths binge drink, which is defined as five drinks in a row for men or four drinks in a row for women."

The patterns vary from campus to campus, he said. At some colleges, 70 percent of the students binge drink, while other campuses show much lower levels.

Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney, who was formerly chief at Carbondale, said it is fairly common for campus communities to have an event where alcohol plays a major role. Carbondale had a problem for several years with Halloween, where large crowds caused major damage.

"It was very destructive, riotous," Finney said. "It was centered in the bar area."

The difference between that event and Unofficial is that the tradition at Champaign-Urbana has been to participate in excessive drinking, Finney said.

"The whole thing is about drinking," he said.

Michael Haines, retired director of the former National Social Norms Research Resource Center at Northern Illinois, said annual events "where alcohol plays a role, small or otherwise," are "certainly common."

However, research has consistently shown that the public and college students themselves overestimate the frequency of binge drinking, partly because the events are often outdoors, he said.

Another factor may be media coverage of what is actually a minority of students.

That may compound problems by increasing pressure on those who would otherwise not participate, he said.

"People who aren't (binge drinking) are less likely to display healthy behaviors because less-healthy behaviors appear to be more prevalent," Haines said.

Unofficial's official rules

Police will be out in force March 6, looking for problems or violations of state or city ordinances or special rules by the University of Illinois or Champaign mayor, who also is the city's liquor commissioner. A list of the rules:

— No nonstudent visitors or guests in UI dorms.

— No illegal parking; vehicles parked illegally during permitted hours or in rented spaces without a permit will be ticketed and may be towed.

— No sleeping in vehicles.

— Mandatory entry age 21 for bars in Champaign between Wright and State streets and Chalmers and Washington streets.

— No possession of kegs without a license and no more than one keg per permit.

— No possession of open alcohol in public.

— No alcohol served in glass bottles or mugs; drinks must be served in paper or plastic cups.

— No crowds over capacity limits in bars.

— No overcrowding of apartment balconies.

— No serving of alcohol before 11 a.m. on Friday, March 6.

— No pitchers of alcohol or shots of hard liquor.

— No cover charges for drinking on private property.

— No serving of alcohol to minors at private parties.

— No loud noise, nuisance or disorderly conduct.

— No speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.

— No damage to property.

— No fights or battery.

Sources: Champaign and University of Illinois police