Students cited for alcohol violation
While trying to purchase liquor for last Saturday's Rice Program Council Rodeo Party, two Rice students were cited for alcohol violations.
At 8 p.m. on Feb. 17, agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and officers of the Houston Police Department ticketed Will Rice College junior and RPC representative Mike Shannon and WRC senior Arpit Shah. The incident occurred at Spec's Liquor Store, 2400 Holcombe. Shannon, age 20, was cited for underage possession of alcohol, and Shah, 21, was cited for making alcohol available to a minor.
Shannon, who is also socials committee chair of the RPC, was host of the Rodeo Party and therefore responsible for making sure alcohol was on hand. A keg of beer had already been bought, but tequila and triple sec were still needed for margaritas.
On the advice of Assistant Director of the Student Center Lisa Jones, also an advisor to the RPC, Shannon asked Shah to accompany him to Spec's. WRC junior Tarun Mahajan drove both of them there.
Once at Spec's, Shannon and Shah went inside. As soon as they were in the door, however, the clerk of the store asked them how old they were. Shannon was asked to leave, which he immediately did.
Shah then bought several gallons of tequila and triple sec, charging it to his own credit card. While he did so, a woman in a Texas A&M University sweatshirt asked him several questions about the party and where the liquor would go.
The woman was an undercover TABC agent.
Outside, Shannon and Mahajan waited in the car. Nearby, there was a group of casually-dressed people who would also turn out to be law-enforcement officials.
Shah brought the liquor outside and put it in the car. Shannon then asked him, within earshot of the officials, how he would like to be repaid for the alcohol. Shannon also asked Shah to go back in and buy another couple of gallons of tequila because he hadn't got enough the first time.
While Shah was in the store again, the plainclothes officials, two from TABC and two from the HPD approached the car and asked Shannon and Mahajan to get out and show identification. When Shannon turned out to be under 21, he was given a ticket for possession of alcohol.
When Shah came outside again, he was also ticketed, this time for making it available to Shannon. The agents seized the alcohol, worth about $120.
Shannon said that he still did not understand the illegality of the event. "A 21-year-old bought the liquor," he said, "and a 21-year-old brought it to go to a fully-registered Rice party."
"We were never well informed as to what the basis of our arrest was," he said.
But Shah understood the key moment to be when Shannon asked him how the RPC should repay him. "By the letter of the law," Shah admitted, "it looked illegal."
Both students took offense, however, at the way the TABC officers ignored the extraordinary circumstances of the incident. Shannon said that he tried to explain repeatedly, showing the agents the Campus Police form which authorized alcohol at the Rodeo Party. According to Shannon, the agents basically told them to "tell it to the judge."
"[Shannon] offered to call the Campus Police and have them explain," Shah said. "They just did not care."
The two HPD officers on the scene, according to the students, saw the incident in a less serious light. "They were joking with us," Shah said, "It was as though they understood that nothing was wrong."
Shah also noted that the HPD officers told them "that if we hadn't been so sure that we weren't doing anything wrong, [the TABC agents] wouldn't have come down so hard on us."
Both Shannon and Shah face up to $175 fines for the violations. Their court date is set for March 15. Both students seemed to think that, once explained, the incident will be seen to be a big misunderstanding.
"The more and more I think about it, the less worried I am," Shannon said.
Shannon has talked to Jones and Joe Davidson, Rice Counsel. According to Shannon, Jones suggested that the only thing he could have done better was not to have gone into the store.
Shah said this incident "bodes badly for any student organization wanting to throw a party with alcohol."
Shannon agreed, adding that in order for an organization to acquire alcohol, it has to have "a 21-year-old with a car."
Shannon said there was only one such person on the RPC, and she was unavailable on Saturday night.
Shah was later fully reimbursed by the RPC for the alcohol that was seized.
Later Saturday evening, an adult employee of the Student Center bought the necessary alcohol for the Rodeo Party.
There were no alcohol violations at the party reported by either Director of Student Activities Sarah Nelson Crawford or by the Campus Police.
This item appeared in the News section of the February 23, 1996 issue.
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