The Michigan Daily, Summer, 1986- Page3 False ID puts alcohol distributors on guard Daily Photo by ANDI SCHREIBER Joyce Jones and Kay Cummings eat a free dinner provided by Ann Arbor's Hunger Coalition in the basement of St. Mary's Church on E. William St. Both are part of the city's large homeless population. Students last year donated volunteer time and supplies to the city's two homeless shelters. Freshman cations to LSA rise- 7percent By ROB EARLE "Could I see some ID please?" Reaction to this question all depen- ds on a student's age. As the six pack of beer, fifth of cheap liquor, or bottle of wine sits on the counter, action in the next few seconds will determine the course of the night. STUDENTS 21 years old and above can nonchalantly pull out a drivers license, toss it face-up on the counter and return to their conversation, a cocky smirk plastered on their face. For those still too new to the world to buy and consume alcohol under Michigan's 21 and above statute, the reactions vary. "I forgot it." "I ALWAYS buy here." "ID? I haven't been carded in two years." Young, would-be drinkers soon discover there is little chance of coming up with an original excuse - store clerks, bartenders, ushers, and waitresses have heard them all. Fake IDs seem to be the best way around the law. FAKE IDs come in many varieties. Some are merely altered drivers licenses. Michigan licenses are easily changed with a little beige make-un and a sharp pencil. A driver can thus add years to her age. Other fake IDs are known as "ringers." Available through the mail or from local novelty merchants. these IDs look like official iden- tification, but are missing state seals, official signatures, or other_ legitimizing marks. A third variety is the "big brother" type. This is a legitimate ID used by someone beside the owner. Since the picture on the ID must have some resemblence to the bearer, it is often the ID of an older relative. FINALLY, THERE'S the ID ob- tained through legal channels through illegal means - like using an altered birth certificate to get a drivers licen- se. While this appears to be the most effective fake ID, it is also the most dangerous, since the bearer is guilty of perjury. IN ANN ARBOR, fake IDs are fairly common. While enforcement agencies don't keep statistics, police seize two or three fake IDs every month, according to Detective Lt. Paul Buten of the Ann Arbor police department's special investigation unit. Despite police confiscations and underage "plants" to secretly test sellers, Buten said the number of fake ID users has not dropped in recent years. "There is every bit as many fake IDs as there has been in the past," said Ron Gill, district supervisor for the state Liquor Control Commission (LCC). GILL said the only way to reduce fake ID usage is through prosecution. "The means for prosecuting fake ID users is in the law," he said. But he explained that local police depar- tments often enforce the law only against sellers, not underage buyers. "What they need is a law that does something to the kid that's trying to buy," said Dennis Tice, manager of Tices Liquor on State Street. OVERLAPPING jurisdiction for fake IDs may be one reason for enfor- cement problems. State liquor laws and local ordinances governing falsified identification are not enfor- ced by the same agencies. The LCC for instance, turns over cases of false driver licenses to the Secretary of State's office, but does not demand they be confiscated. The City of Ann Arbor however, does collect fake IDs. While city police use fake IDs for prosecution purposes, campus security simply destroys confiscated IDs given to them by ushers at the Union's University Club. Many local retailers don't even bother to confiscate fake ID. "It doesn't do any good," said Tice. "We generally don't con- fiscate it," agreed Campus Corner manager Gil Holbrook. Campus Cor- ner keeps a large bound volume with samples of all U.S. and Canadian legal IDs for comparison purposes. HOLBROOK AND Tice said their respective stores are very careful about checking ID. Buten confirms this, noting that recent undercover sweeps by police show package liquor dealers have improved in checking ID. Bars, on the other hand, are not as careful, he said. Buten said bars check ID only about half the time before serving alcohol. Such laxness has led to temporary closures, in the case of Dooley's in 1983, and fines for the U-Club last year. Since several incidents last year when the U-Club served both un- derage members and non-members - violating its liquor license, restric- tions have been tightened. ACCORDING to U-club beverage manager Don Dentling, it's all a mat- ter of attitude. "We have a more alert management that stresses checking ID over selling drinks," he said. For other bars, he said, the profit motive often comes first. All U-Club employeesastress alcohol control, Dentling said. On especially busy nights, the bar may have "a bat- talion of people" watching the floor for underage drinkers. The U-Club has also taken a unique approach to controlling alcohol. Un- derage members and non-members are required to sin a statement; saying they are not entering the club "with the intent of buying alcohol." DENTLING said this not only in- sures better control, but, "If we do have a problem with that person, we can go back and check the sign-in sheet." One LSA junior said he pasted his picture on his brother's Florida drivers license to purchase alcohol. His brother is over 21 years old. "A FRIEND made it," he said proudly, with a newly purchased case of Budweiser Light on his shoulder. Yet he remains careful when he uses his fake ID. "I don't use it anyplace they check more than one piece of ID," he said. "I've got the whole thing-even the license num- ber-memorizedas-wellas my own." By PHILIP I. LEVY Despite a nation-wide drop in high school graduates and increasing competition among universities for quality students, the number of ap- plications to the University's College of Literature Science and Arts rose by more than seven percent this year. The rise marks the third straight year of increases. But despite the University's recent success, the future could be somewhat bleak. According to MichaelDonahue, associate director of the University's admissions office, demographic studies have projected that graduating seniors in the University's prime recruiting areas will decline by 15 to 30 percent. THE DECLINE, attributed to a drop in the number of births after the baby-boom period of the 1960s, has caused major concern among Univer- sity administrators. This year, over 10,000 applications were from out-of-state, Donahue said. The exact size of the freshman class is unclear but the admissions office aims for a class of 4,400 - about one- third from out-of-state and two-thirds from Michigan. Other than Michigan, the Univer- sity draws most heavily from New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Ohio. All of these states are expected to ex- perience a drop in potential college students. MICHIGAN is also predicted to drop, and students from five counties from which the University draws 70 percent of in-state students, are projected to decline more than the rest of the state, Montgomery said. Cliff Sjogren, the' University's director of admissions, is nonetheless optimistic about the prospects for University recruiting. He said the Great Lakes area has been hit hardest by population declines since the late 1970s, and Michigan has been the har- dest hit of the Great Lakes states. Despite this drop, he points out, the University has still seen record num- bers of applications. "We're bucking that trend," said Sjorgren. "This University is in as good as a position as anybody in the country to meet the problem." DONAHUE attributes the Univer- sity's success to good publicity and active recruiting. University sports, student activities, and the state's im- proving economy help the Univer- sity's image, he said. Donahue contrasted the Univer- sity's image with that of Michigan State. He said that choosing a college is a family decision and such highly- publicized incidents as the MSU dor- mitory fire and a pornographic film recently made by students have hurt the school's recruiting image. MSU remains the University's biggest competitor for in-state students, said Donahue. Nationally, the University competes with North- western, the University of Pen- nsylvania and the Ivy League schools because many students who end up at Michigan also applied to those schools, he added. Mathematics Prof. Hugh Mon- tgomery, a member of the LSA Blue Ribbon Commission established in part to deal with the demographic problems facing the University, said the recunt increases were due to an "increasing awareness that the University is offering a very good education for the price. There is a research excellence here comparable to Ivy League schools." Both Montgomery and Donahue said recent books which rated the University highly and described it as a "public Ivy" had been helpful. The University has also recruited far more actively in recent years. Donahue said Michigan was "a sleeping giant" six or seven years ago; the admissions office was not doing a lot of things it could have. Now, he said, "we're working as hard as we ever have." "We're after the very, very, very good student," said Donahue. "So is everybody else."