Don't let this happen to you!

By Debbie Rottner

The day starts off when you have a few with your friends at a pre-concert BBQ. The afternoon continues with a water bottle filled with your favorite “mixed beverage” at the concert. Everyone needs a break, though, so dinner is there to sober you up. Then to the bars!

This might be a typical day of a student participating in the annual Fred Fest festivities.

We all know that drinking is a big part of Fred Fest. What is not often thought about, however, is that only about a quarter of students at SUNY Fredonia are legally able to drink.

So what does that mean for the rest of the school?

Will the police just look the other way in the good nature of the weekend? Or is it worth the risk to take the chance and hope you won’t get caught?

Last year TV/Digital film major David Waldron found himself one of the unfortunate souls forced to pay a visit to the Fredonia Police station. While in his dorm room, Dave was enjoying himself with his friends. Much to his surprise, the Fredonia Police showed up stating that they had received a complaint about the noise coming from his room.

Taken away in handcuffs, Waldron knew that this was not going to be a pleasant end to his evening. Upon arriving at the station, the jail was crammed full of students. Almost everyone was being held for some sort of alcohol related reason. In essence, the jail cells at the police station had been turned into giant drunk tanks.

“I got there about 2:00 in the morning. Everything was jam packed. They had nowhere else to put me, so they handcuffed me to a bench in the middle of the station,” recalled Waldron.

Although he does not remember much from that night, one thing does stand out in Waldron’s mind. “I remember sitting on the floor looking around and thinking wow, I hope no one pukes on me!” He explained that this feeling resulted from the stench of beer oozing from the cells.

Being handcuffed to a bench is not a typical experience when taken to a police station. If the police know that Fred Fest happens every year, how exactly do they plan for this influx in drinking? Do they have anywhere else to put students rather than attaching them to a bench?

Fredonia Police Chief Bradley Meyers explained that the department increases both its foot and road patrols for the weekend.


But for the space issue, the Fredonia Police fell they have more than enough accommodations.

“Cell space is rarely an issue here. Yes, there is an increase in warnings for the weekend and if we need to detain students, we will keep them until they are capable to safely leave us,” said Meyers.

Meyers also warns students that they should be careful of doing something that could haunt them for the rest of their lives due to one drunken evening.

And as for Waldron? He was deemed safe enough to enter back onto the streets, and was released without charges after two hours of being attached to the bench. He now knows that playing his guitar in his dorm room at 2 a.m. probably is not the best idea.