Friday, February 27, 1987/The Battalion/Page 3
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State and Local
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Minors, juveniles get hit with citations
Alcohol commission cracks down
By Melanie Perkins
Staff Writer
It could happen to you or to
someone you know.
It happened to 2,167 minors
and 569 juveniles in Texas last
month, 64 of the minors and 10
of the juveniles in the Bryan-Col-
lege Station district, says Joe Dar-
nall, legal counsel for the Texas
Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
“It” is a citation for minors, or
in some cases juveniles (those 17
and under), possessing and con
suming alcoholic beverages.
A first-time offender could pay
$25-$200, while a second offense
could bring a $ 100-$500 fine.
Darnall says the suspects
usually are not taken into cus
tody.
“Whenever it is possible, which
is most of the time, we issue a cita
tion to appear at a certain time or
date in a justice court, just like a
traffic ticket,” he says.
“We issue a ticket, he signs for
it and goes on about his business,”
he says.
Possibly even worse than the
humiliation and potential mone
tary setback a citation entails is a
statute that requires the justice
court to notify at least one parent
of the minor who has been cited.
“This wasn’t so bad when the
legal drinking age was 18 or even
when it was 19,” Darnall says.
“But now that the legal drinking
age is 21 and you’ve got a 20-
year-old who is cited to appear
before a justice of the peace, it
gets a little awkward sometimes to
notify the parents of this person
who is an adult for all other pur
poses.”
Darnall says the TABC, to a
large extent, works on complaints
but also makes inspections at ran
dom.
“We will, in effect, stake them
(stores) out just like on television,
where we will park maybe half a
block away and observe the prem
ises — the comings and goings —
with binoculars,” he says.
If an underage person is
caught buying alcohol, he can be
issued a citation along with the
person who sold him the alcohol.
But the employee does have a
defense.
“If it really is fake, but it is an
apparently valid driver’s license
or DPS identification card, that is
an absolute defense for the sel
ler,” Darnall says.
He says there are two types of
fake ID cards — counterfeit and
look-alike IDs.
The counterfeit of an official
document is a felony, Darnall
says.
It is illegal to manufacture,
possess or use this type of ID.
The look-alike IDs sold in flea
markets or magazines are not
counterfeit — they are docu
ments that mimic the real thing
but don’t say they are the real
thing.
They might, for example, be
from the Texas Department of
Public “Safely” or Texas Depart
ment of Identification — neither
of which are real departments.
“At the moment, the manufac
ture and mere possession of these
— what we call flea market IDs —
is legal,” Darnall says, “but the
use of them in an attempt to pur
chase alcoholic beverages by a mi
nor is illegal.”
He says there has been a sharp
increase in both types of false IDs
since the drinking age went up
Sept. 1, and those collected are
the tip of the iceberg.
Most local liquor stores have
the same policy when faced with
handling fake IDs: Take the ID
and ask the individual to leave.
“I collect the ID and try to em
barrass the person trying to pass
it off,” says Mike Martensen,
owner of Mike’s Discount Liquor.
Rupert Jones, manager of JJ’s
Package Store in College Station,
says he really hasn’t seen any fake
IDs, but would refuse to sell to
anyone using one.
Besides stores, the TABC also
periodically patrols bars and
nightclubs.
If a problem is suspected,
agents may go undercover, Dar
nall says.
Ron Stone, TABC assistant dis
trict supervisor, says it is the re
sponsibility of the store or club to
make sure no one who is under
age purchases, possesses or con
sumes alcoholic beverages on
their premises.
Of the 250 TABC agents in
Texas, 10 are assigned to patrol
the 1,831 establishments licensed
to sell alcohol in the 14 counties
of which Brazos County is a part.
Clements' decision due on parole eligibility
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AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clements will de
cide today whether to authorize speedier parole
; eligibility for 185 prison inmates necause of the
(prison overcrowding emergency, a spokesman
| said Thursday.
Jay Rosser, the governor’s deputy press secre-
Itary, said Clements ordered his staff to review
the cases of all 185 inmates for whom the Board
I of Pardons and Paroles recommended authoriz
ing 60 days additional “good time.”
“The governor has asked the staff to review
1 each of these affected inmates to make sure each
I qualifies under provisions of the Prison Manage-
jjjment Act,” Rosser said. “He wants that report on
I his desk first thing in the morning.”
I Rosser said the 185 inmates would have been
scheduled for prison release within 30 days any
way. He said they most likely would be moved
from prison units to halfway houses and kept un
der intensive supervision.
Clements returned Thursday night from
Washington, D.C., to a state prison system that
has been closed to new inmates since Wednesday,
when inmate population exceeded the 95 per
cent of capacity limit.
The midnight Wednesday head count showed
38,644 inmates — 95.63 percent of capacity, 254
inmates over the 95 percent cap. About 55 con
victs were scheduled for parole Thursday, offi
cials said.
Attorney General Jim Mattox'said that under
the state’s prison management law, Clements
must certify that an emergency overcrowding
condition exists and order Texas Department of
Corrections officials to credit eligible inmates
with up to 90 days of additional good conduct
time.
“I’m very hopeful the people they will have to
award the good time to will be those individuals
that are least likely to cause injury to the public,”
Mattox said.
In other developments Thursday, Rep. Dan
Morales, D-San Antonio, sent a letter to newspa
per editors saying he believes the public is upset
over passage last week of legislation to speed up
parole eligibility to ease prison crowding.
Fund-raising failure
in ’86 A&M pageant
left $12,000 shortfall
By Carolyn Garcia
Staff Writer
Beauty pageants usually create
the image of scantily-clad, long-
legged lovelies.
However, they also can create an
unattractive eyesore — a $12,000
debt.
Although it has been rated first in
university-level pageants, the Miss
Texas A&M Scholarship Pageant fell
a “little short” of breaking even in
last year’s budget.
Bonne Bejarano, executive direc
tor of the pageant, said the shortfall
from the 1986 pageant was not a
matter of overspending, but one of
inadequate fund raising.
“We didn’t spend over our bud
get,” Bejarano said. “We just didn’t
raise enough money for the budget.
Seldom do we go over the line.”
Bejarano said the problem was
that the pageant staff didn’t have ac
cess to the books.
“There was not access to the books
until after the fact,” she said. “Some
how in the shuffle between changing
advisers, the book was lost.”
Susan Bender, program adviser,
said she had to go into the Memorial
Student Center’s accounting office
and reconstruct the records.
Bejarano said she just recently
learned of the debt from the 1986
pageant.
The problem of lack of money
stems from the fact that some people
E ledge donations and then don’t fol-
)w through with the cash, Bejarano
said.
“The economy in Texas is tight
and people just don’t have the
money to give,” she said. “Unfortu
nately, those who are very talented
in fund raising aren’t drawn to
things like (the MSC) Hospitality
(committee).”
Bejarano said the pageant does
not receive student service fees, and
that the budget is made up entirely
of donations and fund-raising reve
nues. Therefore, the MSC and Hos
pitality, which do receive money
from student service fees, absorbed
the debt.
“The expenses come in incre
ments,” Bejarano said. “We have the
expenses for the pageant and then
Miss Texas.”
Those expenses include a $1,000
wardrobe allowance for Miss Texas
A&M and travel to the Miss Texas
pageant.
The Miss Texas organization cov
ers the contestants’ expenses while at
the state pageant. But expenses for
the staff to attend the week-long
pageant preparations are covered by
the A&M pageant organization, Be
jarano said.
“We are there for moral support
for our representative,” she said.
“There are a lot of franchise meet
ings, helpful hint sessions and dis
cussions on pageant rules and regu
lations.”
The pageant also raises money
from ticket and program sales, but
the bulk of the money raised is spent
in Rudder Tower on the show, Beja
rano said.
Bejarano said the chairman of the
board of the Miss Texas pageant has
rated A&M’s pageant as the best
among college pageants, and noted
that three Aggies excelled at the
Miss Texas pageant.
“Sheri Ryman won the Miss Texas
pageant and was fourth at Miss
America,” Bejarano said, “and
Cindy Green was a first runner-up at
Miss Texas. Catherine (Vincent) re
ceived a Judges Award. This is an
award for someone who doesn’t
make the top 20, but who the judges
feel has great potential and talent.”
Bejarano said steps are being
taken to safeguard against another
huge pageant deficit.
“I would love to have the books
myself so I could see where we stand
all the time, but the MSC and the
University don’t work that way,” she
said. “We have monthly meetings
with our adviser to discuss our bud
get situation.”
A new Miss Texas A&M will be
crowned Saturday at 7 p.m. in Rud
der Tower.
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