JeffHaller/DN
Nick Reifschneider, a senior construction management major, and Nicole Coffey, a junior
environmental studies major, break from late-night studying at Perkins, 48th and 0 streets.
Perkins’ policy limits studying
by June sopczyk
Staff Reporter
When Kendra Kohl went to
Perkins last week, she wanted a
quiet place to eat and study with her
boyfriend.
But as the couple was seated, Kohl
was surprised at the comment their
server made about the restaurant’s
policy on studying.
“He told us we had to have a $5
minimum order and we could only
stay an hour,” Kohl, a sophomore in
general studies, said.
Kohl said the policy shocked her,
and she and her boyfriend decided to
study elsewhere.
Studying at restaurants was noth
ing new to Kohl. She said she had
been studying at Perkins since she
was in high school and was not aware
of the policy.
One reason Kohl said she could
not understand the policy was that the
restaurant was not busy.
“It was about 8 or 9 p.m.,” she
said. “It was late — after dinner, so
the restaurant was only about a third
or half full.”
Darren Castados, manager at
Perkins at 121 N. 48 St., said the
restaurant’s policy toward students
who study at night had been in effect
for about a year.
The policy states that they must
spend a minimum of $4 and can only
stay for an hour, he said.
One reason for the policy was to be
courteous to other guests at the res
taurant, Castados said.
“The policy is mainly for the stu
dents who come in during the early
evening,” he said. “It makes it hard
for other guests to find a booth.”
Castados said the enforcement of
the policy depended on the number of
customers in the restaurant and the
management.
“It depends on how busy we are
and who’s working,” he said. “Some
managers don’t have a problem with
it as long as there are booths avail
able.”
Castados said that although he
was required to enforce the policy, he
did not agree with it.
“I don’t think it’s fair that people
can come in and drink coffee for
four or five or six hours,” he said.
“But students can come in and actu
ally do something and can only stay
an hour.”
Sometimes, conflict over the policy
occurs with students.
“We’ve had people who can’t un
derstand why we have it because we
have people in here who just sit and
drink coffee,” he said. “Management
says ‘It’s not a library, it’s a restau
rant’ but what library is open at 1 or
2 in the morning?”
Fake ID crackdown
yields mixed results
By Brian Sharp
Senior Reporter
Capt. Jim Peschong says a po
lice crackdown on fake IDs in the
downtown-area bar scene is seeing
results.
But Troy Way, manager of the
Hurricane, says minors have failed
to get the message, and the prob
lem continues.
And Art Rigg, general manager
of Guitars and Cadillacs, says more
minors have been caught trying to
enter his south Lincoln bar since
the police crackdown began.
Minors with fake IDs are a prob
lem downtown bars have battled
for years. Punishment for a mis
take is the loss of a liquor license.
The police crackdown is part of
a program called “Badges in Bars.”
The program, which started last
fall, puts plainclothed Lincoln po
lice officers in downtown bars, in
part to watch for minors.
Peschong said the program had
significantly reduced the problem
with underage and excess drinking
in downtown-area bars.
“Minors were pretty bold in try
ing to present altered IDs or fake
IDs,” Peschong said. “That has
definitely been reduced.
“We’re still catching some,
don’t get me wrong. Everyone
hasn’t totally backed off. I doubt
we have turned everyone away.”
Now, Peschong said he was con
cerned that minors who had been
turned away had simply gone to
other bars the program doesn’t
reach.
Rigg said that held true at his
bar, 5400 O St. He said he had
confiscated three times the bar’s
average of fake IDs since the pro
gram started.
The increase was first noticed
about three months ago, he said.
Policy is to take the ID and tell the
person they can call the police if
they want it back. Most of time, he
said, the bar winds up adding an
other altered license to its collec
tion.
Although Rigg said the influx
of minors at his establishment had
been substantial, several other
managers of bars located through
out Lincoln said they hadn’t seen a
noticeable increase in fake IDs.
The college crowd doesn’t ven
ture much out of downtown, they
said, and anyone who looks young
really stands out.
Reaction is mixed among bar
managers in the downtown scene
on whether the program is deliver
ing on its promise.
At Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St.,
manager Reg McMeen said the
program received a lot of hype
from police and the media when it
first began, and the number of mi
nors at the door had declined.
Now, he said, the minors are
coming back and police haven’t
been in as much as expected.
Way said at least 40 percent
more fake IDs had been confis
cated at the Hurricane since the
program began.
But Iguana’s co-owner Becky
Smith said the program had been
effective, though the number of
minors trying to get in fluctu
ated.
In June, the department will
study the positive and negative
impacts of the program, Peschong
said. Bar owners have to request
the officers, he said. While some
bar owners have requested officers
more often, others haven’t re
quested them at all.
HOW TO SAVE A FEW BUCKS,
(YOU CANT LIVE OFF PSYCH EXPERIMENTS ALONE.)
^ Buy pizza at closing time.
Haggle for slices they’d otherwise just throw away.
^ Eat Ramen noodles.
tj
^ Make friends with a Senior.
Come June, they’ll be more than glad to give you
their old Poly Sci books and couches.
^ Donate blood.
Save a life and get a free lunch to boot.
^ Pick up a Citibank Classic card.
There’s no annual fee.
