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SURVIVAL GUIDE: Alcohol

MICHAEL BARNETT Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service

Colleges and local governments probably can’t stop you from drinking alcohol, but they have adopted tough guidelines that may make you think twice about chugging that next beer.

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Students should read up on their college’s underage drinking sanctions, as well as state laws, said C.L. Lindsay, an attorney who is executive director of the Coalition for Student and Academic Rights, which tracks issues affecting students.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Lindsay said. “Especially in the high school world, there is a lot of myth and lure about college policies.”

While each college and state has different drinking laws, Lindsay said all students should be aware that:

• Schools can probably punish them for off-campus infractions. The courts have consistently held that colleges are allowed to assert their authority beyond campus borders. If the police cited you for underage drinking at an off-campus party, the school also can punish you under its alcohol rules.

• Charging for alcohol without a liquor license is a major offense. Voluntary donations are the only legal way to recover alcohol costs.

• Doctoring your college ID to use as a fake is a really bad idea. A lot of students think that if they use a fake college ID, rather than a phony license, they’ll avoid prosecution. This simply isn’t true. Fake ID laws are always drafted to include any kind of identification.