Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 3, 1995                   TAG: 9511030038
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

DRINKING VIOLATIONS DOWN AT TECH

Maybe it's the new campus rule banning students who get nailed drinking at one game from attending the next.

Maybe it's just the lousy weather or noon kickoffs.

Whatever it is, drinking violations have plummeted like a huge rock from atop Cassell Coliseum since Virginia Tech's first big game of the season - a night game - on Sept. 7.

"It was 40 at the first game and it's gone down to two or three per game," said Capt. Jody Falls, who's in charge of game security.

As Tech prepares to take on Syracuse University Saturday in a big game that could pave the way to a big bowl, university administrators are hoping the good record for the crowd holds, too.

They're mindful that the game starts at 3:30 - all that much more time for folks to drink - but they've still got their fingers crossed.

They've also got their fingers crossed that students and fans won't flood the field like they did during the last big game, against Miami.

At this game, Falls said, "We'll beef up security; watch it as it goes. We're asking people not to come over.

"If they come take the field, we'll attempt to get out of the way," he said.

Those arrested for drinking on game days end up in the dean of students' office by Monday, and pass on to the university judicial system for review.

Dean Cathy Goree downplayed the idea that the new drinking rules get credit for the drop in game drinking problems. But, she said, students may be getting the message they would be prohibited from attending one or more games if caught.

Of the group sanctioned after the Boston College season opener, all waived hearings before the judicial board.

"Most of them understand why" they were in her office, she said. "Clearly, they were aware of the policy."

Around campus, some students have heard about the new drinking rules - which crack down on dorm drinking, too - and some have not.

"It's a lot bigger deal," to be caught drinking at games now, said Jenny Jones, treasurer for the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

"It's a lot more serious than just getting kicked out for this one game," she said.

But senior Tess Plunkett had never heard of the new rules.

Have more students stopped drinking at games?

"I would doubt it," she said. "Highly.

"They drink before the game. After the game. During the game."