Even though the Charleston Police Department’s raid on Jerry’s Pizza resulted in 86 students being charged with underage drinking, most officials think that Eastern’s underage drinking problem is not unusual when compared to most universities.

Deputy Chief Dave Chambers said they conducted the Jerry’s raid because of complaints underage drinking was happening.

“The way I look at it is that if I get complaints there is underage drinking going on at a bar, I’ve got to investigate,” Chambers said. “And that’s what happened with Jerry’s.”

Roger Cunningham, a former assistant chief at the Charleston Police Department who is currently teaches criminology at Eastern, said while Eastern does have an underage drinking problem, all major universities do.

“It just goes with the age group of the people who are here and the amount of freedom they now have,” Cunningham said. “There are no longer any parental controls and nobody is really watching the way they spend their money.”

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s, underage students consume 48 percent of alcohol at four-year universities.

Cunningham also explained many freshmen will participate in underage drinking because they are in a new environment and they want to meet people. However, what concerns Cunningham is of the 86 minors in the bar, only seven had fake IDs.

“Obviously there is a problem there with the security and fulfilling the responsibility to card people because 86 is a big number,” Cunningham said. “The fact that so many of them did not have fake IDs on them indicates to me that possibly they weren’t even checking at all.”

Andy Coy, a manager at the Panther Paw, said their bar has multiple precautions in place to make sure underage students do not get in.

“Our door guys go through training on how to pick out fake IDs by knowing what to look for,” Coy said. “We have zero-tolerance with underage drinking. If you are under 21, you are going to have a hard time getting in.”

According to Brian Bower, Charleston’s City Attorney, the students charged were issued citations by the Charleston City Court, and will be prosecuted by the judicial system by the state of Illinois.

Heather Webb, the director of Judicial Affairs, said they do not have any more additional information regarding what will happen to the students who were caught. However, Webb does not believe that underage drinking is a major problem at Eastern.

“Across the country, underage drinking is a problem on every college campus,” Webb said. “I don’t think Eastern is unique in any way when it comes to underage drinking. I think they are pretty much on par with other institutions.”

Bower said once he files a complaint, a hearing will be scheduled before Mayor John Inyart, who is also the liquor commissioner, at which the liquor license holder will either admit to or deny the charges.

If the charges are denied, Inyart will hear evidence at a subsequent hearing and determine if penalties are warranted. Bower said he believes once the complaints are filed, the whole process should be done in about 40 days.

Possible penalties for Jerry’s can range from a minimum $250 fine or three-day license suspension to a maximum $1,000 fine, 30-day license suspension or license revocation.

Not only are there consequences with the law, students who binge drink regularly-whether they are minors or of age-suffer in grades.

According to MADD, approximately five drinks per occasion are associated with a grade point average lowered by half a grade. Also, each additional drink consumed by college students per occasion increased the probability of missing a class by 8 percent and getting behind in school by 5 percent.

In 2008, minors will have even more incentive to not drink.

On Jan. 1, a new state law will go into effect requiring driver licenses to be revoked from underage violators of liquor laws for a minimum of three months if convicted.