Fewer tickets doesn’t prove ordinance works

The story from Aug. 23, titled “Signs Iowa City's 21-only ordinance may be working,” is incredibly misleading. While handing out fewer PAULA tickets may be a victory to some, the real issue at hand in Iowa City is the culture of drinking and over-consuming - not just a culture of getting caught. Handing out fewer tickets fails to prove that the ordinance had made the campus safer or encouraged safer drinking habits, and if anything it hints that the drinking problem may have become less concentrated and harder to stop.

IC officials have touted all along that their goal was to decrease underage drinking in hopes to increase safety for students and other citizens, yet they're clearly basing their success on a false sense of security. It seems quite plausible - and logical - that IC cops would hand out fewer tickets while the new law was in effect. There are fewer people downtown and it's harder for under-agers to drink at the bars, but that doesn't mean they aren't drinking.

And, if they are drinking - in homes and at parties - and not getting busted as frequently, that means they're just fueling the problem, not solving it. Which is exactly the argument against passing the 21-ordinance in the first place. Chalk that up to a victory for the student body.

I'll be waiting for some real proof of the ordinance's effectiveness; otherwise it looks like IC police (and city council) are just relying on misdirection and poor reporting to sell their shenanigans as a success story.

Tyler Hakes

UI Alum 2010

Cedar Rapids