21-only backers voice concerns
George Sweeney - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Metro
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He doesn't oppose alcohol as long as it is safe and legal, James Clayton said on the night of Oct. 18.
Clayton spoke on behalf of the committee of the Stepping Up Project, and a spokesman for the Committee for Healthy Choices - two groups that want to see a 21-ordinance pass in Iowa City.
Clayton spoke in favor of the ordinance last week during a forum on the 21-only rule, sponsored by the Johnson County League of Women Voters, who take no official position on the issue.
He said drinking in Iowa City is often excessive, citing the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which showed that in 2003, the UI had a 69 percent binge drinking rate, compared with 46 percent at universities nationwide.
The National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse defines binge drinking as "a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 gram percent or above." For typical adults, this means five drinks for males or four drinks for females in about two hours, the institute says.
The same study showed that 44 percent of UI students surveyed had forgotten what they did or where they were while drinking, and 15.8 percent had at some point thought they had a drinking problem.
But fewer than 1 percent had ever considered themselves "a problem drinker."
Also present at the event was Gary Sanders, who leads Citizens Against Drunken Students Ruining Downtown.
"If allowing 18- to 20-year-olds in bars would reduce the number of dangerous house parties, then college towns across the country would be doing that," he said after the event.
Clayton said the high number of people downtown on weekend nights affects police patrols.
"Downtown, there are seven officers on duty plus a supervisor on a shift," he said. "They're all downtown. If you have a problem out in the neighborhoods, right now, because there are 6,000-plus people down here, this is where the police are going to be."
The vast majority of Iowa City police are downtown during the night, said Iowa City police Sgt. Troy Kelsay, though he called Clayton's statement an "exaggeration." He noted that police staffing numbers downtown vary weekly and nightly, increasing patrols downtown for home football weekends and such events as the Union's Studio 54 Night.
Clayton spoke on behalf of the committee of the Stepping Up Project, and a spokesman for the Committee for Healthy Choices - two groups that want to see a 21-ordinance pass in Iowa City.
Clayton spoke in favor of the ordinance last week during a forum on the 21-only rule, sponsored by the Johnson County League of Women Voters, who take no official position on the issue.
He said drinking in Iowa City is often excessive, citing the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which showed that in 2003, the UI had a 69 percent binge drinking rate, compared with 46 percent at universities nationwide.
The National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse defines binge drinking as "a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 gram percent or above." For typical adults, this means five drinks for males or four drinks for females in about two hours, the institute says.
The same study showed that 44 percent of UI students surveyed had forgotten what they did or where they were while drinking, and 15.8 percent had at some point thought they had a drinking problem.
But fewer than 1 percent had ever considered themselves "a problem drinker."
Also present at the event was Gary Sanders, who leads Citizens Against Drunken Students Ruining Downtown.
"If allowing 18- to 20-year-olds in bars would reduce the number of dangerous house parties, then college towns across the country would be doing that," he said after the event.
Clayton said the high number of people downtown on weekend nights affects police patrols.
"Downtown, there are seven officers on duty plus a supervisor on a shift," he said. "They're all downtown. If you have a problem out in the neighborhoods, right now, because there are 6,000-plus people down here, this is where the police are going to be."
The vast majority of Iowa City police are downtown during the night, said Iowa City police Sgt. Troy Kelsay, though he called Clayton's statement an "exaggeration." He noted that police staffing numbers downtown vary weekly and nightly, increasing patrols downtown for home football weekends and such events as the Union's Studio 54 Night.
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