With the current debate in the Iowa Legislature about whether students living in residence halls should be allowed to drink alcohol and if students’ parents should be notified if they get caught doing so illegally, it’s easy to forget that most college students are underage.

Yet many students also have at least the occasional drink.

That alcohol has to come from somewhere, and often it is from a person who is of legal age.

Jerry Stewart, associate director of the ISU Department of Public Safety, said fighting the flow of alcohol to minors is one of the most difficult and serious issues DPS officers deal with.

Arrests for supplying alcohol to a minor is rare, as DPS officers have only arrested one individual in the past two months for the offense.

Earlier this month, Stewart said a DPS officer saw Matthew Richardson, 21, 8252 Knapp Hall, walking on his floor with a minor who was carrying a bottle of alcohol. Stewart said Richardson, senior in agricultural business, was arrested and charged with supplying alcohol to a minor after a follow-up investigation and even ended up in jail with bond set at $2,000.

Richardson declined to comment on the allegations.

Linda Ciccone, ISU substance abuse program coordinator, said supplying alcohol to minors is a serious issue.

“There are consequences to actions,” Ciccone said. “They’re breaking the law.”

Although Stewart said the law is difficult to enforce, officers can sometimes trace alcohol back to its buyer. “There are occasions when we can determine who the supplier is, and we take action,” he said.

Because supplying alcohol to minors is a serious misdemeanor carrying a possible fine of $1,000 and a prison term of one year, that action can mean jail time for suppliers, Stewart said.

“In many states, [jail] would be a requirement,” he said. “It’s not uncommon.”

Carolyn Meyer, 20, junior in exercise and sport science, said she thinks the penalties for minors who partake in underage drinking and those who supply alcohol to them should be similar. The fine for underage possession of alcohol is usually about $150 after court fees.

“It’s just as bad to supply it to minors as it is for minors to drink it,” Meyer said.

Supplying alcohol to underage persons is a common problem on university campuses, Stewart said.

“I don’t think that Iowa State experiences any more or less than a university of similar size,” Stewart said.

Minors obtaining alcohol is a problem nationwide, and Iowa State is no different than anywhere else, Ciccone said.

Zack Smith, 20, sophomore in agronomy, said he thought efforts to curb the supply of alcohol to underage drinkers would be almost impossible.

“If students who are minors want alcohol, they will find a way to get it,” Smith said.

Smith said the concern for authorities should not be whether minors are getting alcohol, but instead seeking out students who pose a danger to themselves or others when they abuse alcohol.

“The number of minors consuming alcohol on this campus is too great to try to have prevention as a mission,” he said.

Laws concerning the legal age for consuming alcohol should be a “two-way street,” applying to both distributors and minors, Ciccone said.

Meyer said she thinks students, regardless of whether they are of legal age, need to take more responsibility and obey the law or suffer the consequences.

“It’s stupid, but it’s the law,” Meyer said.