For 20-year-old Iowa State junior Scott Christy, acquiring alcohol is not a problem. All he has to do is contact a friend, he said, and within half and hour he can have his drink of choice.

“If you have friends,” he said, “anything can be done.”

Christy is part of an increasing underage drinking trend in Ames. According to figures stated by Ames Chief of Police Dennis Ballantine, underage drinking violations are up.

Possession of alcohol by minors for the first six months of this year accounted for 263 violations, up from 230 violations during the first six months of 1995. Ames police counted 106 violations for underage drinking at Ames’ bars for the first six months of this year, compared to 85 for the first six months of last year. There were 362 overall liquor citations for that time period last year, and 475 violations this year.

Ballantine said this trend partially reflects the efforts of the police department’s Special Operations Unit, a unit whose responsibility is to patrol for drinking violations. “The excessive use of alcohol by those of age and the continued use by those underage are one of the greatest concerns we have.”

However, Ballantine said, the figures reflect what the officers have seen in Ames: an overall increase in drinking by those underage.

He said part of this can be attributed to the fact that Ames is a college town, but, “I think it’s because it’s so readily available. We’re not alone here at all. It’s a nationwide trend.”

According to the University of Michigan’s “Monitoring the Future” study of drug use in high schools, underage drinking has increased slightly over the past few years, but has stayed relatively stable in this decade with 63.2 percent of 12th graders in 1995 stating they have “been drunk” at some time in their lives.

“We’ve seen some evidence of alcohol and drug use turning back up by late adolescents and young adults,” said Charles Cychosz, coordinator of ISU’s substance and abuse programs. “It’s been happening across the country.”

“People think they have to drink in order to have a good time,” Ballantine said. “It’s an attitudinal thing that has to change.”

Often, drinking will result in occurrences of fights, vandalism and sexual assault and the police being called in, Ballantine said.

Cychosz said the drinking age does not seem to be a deterrent for most students. “Ask any underage student and they will tell you he or she can obtain alcohol.”

Obtaining alcohol in the bars is, of course, more difficult because of an Ames ordinance barring minors from entering them, but Christy said, “I know a lot of people who have fakes and it’s no problem.”

The owner of People’s Bar & Grill, Tom Zmolek, said, “It is pretty difficult, especially in the bars.” He said if people compare the increased figures for drinking on premises violations to the actual number of patrons of all the bars, the numbers are at a low percentage.

Zmolek estimates that 8,000 people come through his establishment each month. “We had only four that were busted in here last month.”

He said he feels the increase in violations is due to increased efforts by the Ames Police Department and Ames’ status as a college town.

Zmolek gave three reasons why ISU affects underage drinking. He said Ames is a college town with few entertainment options; people want to be where their friends are — at the bars; and that the presence of fairly smart college kids makes it harder for the bars to discover fake IDs.

Ballantine said, “We’re more proactive in trying to address [underage drinking] than a non-college community would try to be.”