Police Cracking Down on Students this Spring

According to an article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette the local police are planning on stepping up enforcement for the inevitably wild springing that happens every spring. Scott Merzbach tells his readers that the Amherst Police Department usually puts more officers on duty for weekends in the spring time, but this year they are starting their extra spring shifts earlier. The money for the extra shifts to police officers come from state grants that will be distributed to the Amherst and UMass police department's respectively. There a re plenty of statistics to digest in the article, but I feel as though only one side of the story is conveyed to the reader. What about the students? What do they have to say about extra police forces on the weekends? I for one question whether the state's money should be going towards the prevention of underage drinking when everyone knows it is going to happen regardless of how many officers are patrolling. I understand that UMass is trying to change the culture here in regards to drinking and partying, but attempting to throw money at the problem isn't going to fix much. Drinking at college is a national, cultural idea. Should there be alcohol education? Absolutely. Should underage kids get fined? Sure. I think the better idea that comes into play with this article is the drinking age. If the drinking age is lowered, there are not nearly as many fines (revenue) coming into police departments. Not sure how big of a role the money actually has in this debate, but it is certainly something to ponder.