By MERANDA WATLING
mwatling@jconline.com

Fifty Lafayette-area high schoolers sat together talking on Tuesday, and no one told them to shut up.

Instead, the message from community leaders in the room with them was to speak up.

The first Youth Dialogue Day put on by the Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County brought together students from Beacon Academy, Central Catholic, Faith Christian, Jefferson, Harrison and McCutcheon high schools.

For about four hours of discussion, the students were joined in the same room, at the same table, as adults ranging from Lafayette’s mayor to Purdue’s police chief to local state representatives. They talked about community issues and how teens can improve their town.

“It’s very important for people to get to know the impact we, the youth, have on the community and how important it is to the adults,” Harrison junior Diana Velazquez said. “They took the time to have us actually come here and tell them how we feel.”

Karah Rawlings, the director of the coalition, said one of the major goals of her group is to prevent substance abuse. That starts with the younger generation.

“What we’re learning is we really need to engage the youth and have their voices be heard,” Rawlings said. “We want to hear what’s going to work. To do that, we’ve got to give the youth a chance to dialogue. … The community leaders that took time out of their busy schedules to come, it just shows the kids they do care.”

Purdue University police Chief John Cox told the students during one breakout session that usually he’s on the other end of the discussion with young people, talking about their choices and the consequences.

“This has been pretty enlightening,” Cox said. “I’d encourage you to be vocal, be engaged and be involved. We need you on the front lines.”

The teens gave their suggestions on how they want to be respected, be part of the discussion and make issues personal. Their issues ranged from discussing alcohol and drugs to just talking about how they learn best.

They also talked about how they can make a difference, from going in front of the school board to joining the Mayor’s Youth Council.

“There are opportunities (to be heard), but we don’t always know about them, and we don’t always know the best way to be exposed to them,” Jeff senior Jack McGrew said. “One of the things today is teaching us is how to interact with each other and with a different generation.”

McCutcheon junior Zac Clark said he is hoping to take what was discussed at the meeting back to his school to work with other groups there. Sophomore Tarra Russell said she felt more empowered to make changes.

“There are so many things that we need to do to make our society better,” Russell said. “As the younger generation, we can make these different changes. That way, not everything’s the same and maybe we can get rid of, or help prevent, some of the issues that are already there.”

October 1, 2009
Stings find fewer alcohol ’sales’ to minors

By JUSTIN L. MACK
http://www.jconline.com/article/20091001/NEWS/910010329
Officials say a program designed to keep an eye on alcohol sales to minors is having a positive impact on Tippecanoe County. The Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County, in conjunction with the Lafayette and West Lafayette police departments, has been conducting monthly alcohol compliance checks since late 2007. The program is called Project ACE for “alcohol compliance enforcement.”

According to the coalition, 121 checks have been performed in 2009 as of Wednesday, and five stores in the county have been caught selling alcohol to minors.

“With the checks, the coalition hopes to reduce access to alcohol,” said Katy Travis, outreach coordinator for the coalition. “We are reaching out to more stores and more people. We hope to one day get that number down to zero.”
During the checks, which are performed twice a month, a chaperon, a plainclothes police officer and a minor enter establishments that sell alcohol.

The underage buyer enters the store after the officer and attempts to purchase alcohol without an ID. “We take IDs from all of the minors so they can truthfully say that they don’t have it on them,” said Travis. “Along with the number of sales, we also keep track of the number of times the minors are refused without being asked for ID.”
Karah Rawlings, coalition director, said all of the stores caught selling to minors were either convenience or grocery stores. The totals resulted in a 4.1 percent noncompliance rate for the county.
In comparison, the noncompliance rate was 20 percent when the checks began in 2007, and dropped slightly to 19 percent in 2008.

“We are very pleased with the results this year. Our totals are much lower than anywhere else in the state,” Rawlings said. “The rate is falling pretty drastically, and we are now able to reach out to more stores and continue to raise awareness.”

Purdue senior Iyad Baghdane said he was not surprised to hear that this year’s number is so low.
“Every time I buy any alcohol they always ask for two IDs, and if you only have one they won’t sell to you,” said Baghdane who prefers to buy from package liquor stores. “They have a better selection than other stores, and they do a great job of checking.”

Detective Matt Devine of the Lafayette Police Department said stores that are caught selling to minors are subject to penalties.”The penalties are kind of twofold,” he said. “A case report is sent to the Indiana Excise Police, and the clerk is cited for furnishing alcohol to minor, which is a class C misdemeanor.”

Indiana state law states that possible punishments for furnishing alcohol to a minor are imprisonment for up to 60 days and a fine of up to $500. “Typically the person cited takes advantage of a diversion agreement, but not in all cases,” said Devine. “Working with the coalition has been great so far, and they are a great resource to us here in the community.”

The coalition did not identify the stores cited during the checks. Rawlings said thanks to federal funding, Project ACE will soon expand and allow tobacco compliance checks to be conducted.
“We hope to start checking for tobacco by December,” she said. “We want to keep this going as long as we can.”

The articles failed to report that the Coalition does supply the community with a list of Responsible Retailers. This can be found on our website, www.drugfreetippecanoe.org, under Programs, Project ACE.