LAST CALL FOR MINORS IN CLUBS?

AUSTIN -- He pulls his right hand from his jacket pocket and places a
few dollar bills into the hand of a stranger.

"Longneck Shiner, please. I'll wait in the corner," he says, low
enough to be heard only by the man who will, minutes later, break a
state law.

The minor -- old enough to fight in a war, old enough to vote for the
next president, but still too young to legally drink alcohol -- walks
confidently, the rhythm of the modern dance music guiding him, to the
left corner of the club, located on Sixth Street, the city's mecca for
live music, crowded clubs and tattoo parlors.

He won't give his name, but he says he does this often. He is able to
get into the club that caters to both minors, people under 21 years of
age, and legal adults and, once in, he searches for someone willing to
do a favor for a 19-year-old -- usually a friend of a friend.

"I give the person enough money to buy themselves a drink and one for
me," he said.

The University of Texas student says he doesn't feel guilty, nor does
he fear he will be caught.

"I play it safe by going through people that my friends know. Hey, if
the government can send me to war, then why can't I enjoy a beer at a
club?" he asks.

The young man is not alone. The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration estimates about 10 million underage youths drink
illegally despite the stiff repercussions of doing so.

And, while an effort by the Austin Police Department and the Texas
Alcoholic Beverage Commission seeks to eradicate the problem here, one
state legislator hopes to take the issue a step further.

Rep. Leo Alvarado, D-San Antonio, has proposed a bill that would make
it a crime for a minor to enter an establishment that earns at least
50 percent of its revenue from alcohol sales. The bill, House Bill
106, has ignited a spirited debate about underage drinking, and the
repercussions that such a measure would have on bars, bar owners and
minors.

Mimo Salme, manager of Roxy, a club on Sixth Street that caters to
both minors and adults, said he would have no problem excluding minors
from his dance club if Alvarado's bill passed.

"We made more money when we only let in people who were 21," he
said.

Salme said the club has seen a decline in adult patrons and too many
minors who "pay the cover charge and just dance all night," which
equates to less revenue for Roxy.

"It was less trouble and much easier to run when it used to be 21 and
up because they'd (adults) come and drink all night," Salme said.

He said the club plans to prohibit minors again by September,
regardless of the outcome of the bill.

Alvarado, who has proposed the bill in three previous sessions, said
he is not concerned about club revenues, but is concerned about
underage drinking and driving.

"I love children and I don't want them to die," he said. "This is a
way to help stop drunken driving."

About half of all traffic fatalities involving minors between the ages
of 16 and 20 were alcohol-related, according to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.

TABC Agent Kirk Dalchau said that while Alvarado's bill is a sincere
effort to combat a major problem, it is not what society needs.

"The biggest problem is not that they're getting into the bars and
causing trouble, it's that they're getting in with fake IDs or having
adults buy the drinks for them," said Dalchau, who has been sent to
the Austin Police Department in an effort to crack down on underage
drinking.

Dalchau said a bill like HB 106 would likely create more problems than
it would solve.

"If a bill like that were to pass, it would just increase the number
of fake IDs because they (minors) would still find a way to get back
out to the clubs," he said.

What legislators need to propose, "if they are truly concerned with
underage drinking, is a bill that would provide stiffer penalties for
possession of fake IDs," he said.

Dalchau, along with several other TABC agents and dozens of Austin
police officers, spent a recent Saturday night cracking down on
drinking minors. Several people were arrested for possession of fake
identification and underage drinking. When the last young woman was
led away in tears and handcuffs, Dalchau scanned the cobblestone
street that, despite the late hour, was still filled with hundreds of
partiers.

"We can't do anything to prevent the minors from entering the club if
the doorman lets them in," he said. "The system is simple to get
around. The responsibility is put on the bouncer to check the IDs
because the bartender doesn't have time to do that in there. In that
way the system is flawed."

Dalchau said underage drinking is difficult to combat with so few
agents. With only 160 agents for the state, many places are left unchecked.

"We do offer free training to the retailers and to the doormen about
what to look for when checking an ID so they can tell whether it's
fake or not," he said. "Unfortunately, not a lot of people take us up
on that."

Alvarado said he sees no reason to strengthen the penalties that
already exist for possession of fake identification.

Previous efforts to increase the misdemeanor violation to a felony
failed.

"I don't think that's the problem," he said. "You might have three or
four people that get in with a fake ID, but you'll have 300 to 400
people that get in legally and then go to the bathroom and rub off the
marker (used by clubs to identify who is of age to drink, and who is
not) with detergent they brought in with them. They'll find a way to
get the alcohol."

Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, said he opposes the bill because of the
limits it sets.

"It would basically say that no 18-year-olds are allowed in any clubs
and there are a lot of live venues that cater to an 18 and up crowd,"
said Wilson, who plays with a Houston band called Miss Francis and the
Rhythm Fish. "I just think it's a horrible idea."

The bill is pending in the House Committee on Licensing and
Administrative Procedures which Wilson chairs.

Sixth Street partiers said they have doubts that Alvarado's bill, if
passed, would have the desired effect. Instead, they said, it would
heighten the curiosity and determination of minors to get past the law
and into the clubs.

UT student Ann Guerra said she was 18 when she first tasted alcohol.
Now, at 22, she recalls the many evenings she spent bar-hopping as a
minor on Sixth Street.

"I don't think a single Thursday went by when I didn't go to a club
and come back to the dorm at least buzzed," she said, somewhat
embarrassed by the truth. "But it was just so easy to get the alcohol
and everyone was doing it."

Guerra, now in her last semester, said she got alcohol two ways:
either by entering the club as a 21-year-old because she wasn't asked
to show identification; or by having a legal adult buy the drink for
her.

"It was so easy. You'd either go to the bathroom and rub off the
marker, or you'd pull the sleeve of your shirt over the marker while
you drank," she said.

Alvarado said he has been ridiculed on college campuses and in
newspapers for his efforts.

"None of that bothers me," he said. "I'm just doing what I think is
right."