As most students know, Indiana has some extremely odd policies regarding alcohol. Many students' have made the trip to Meijer on Sunday only to find that they can't buy alcohol (but then turn up 31 and are able to purchase it 10 miles north in Michigan), others have found out the hard way that people under 21 are prohibited from driving a car with alcohol in it (regardless of whether or not someone of age is in the car or purchased the alcohol) and all students are familiar with the rule that prohibits anyone under 21 from being in a bar. Perhaps the first two regulations have some logical base, but the last one seems to be pointless.

In many states, the popular adage is "18 to party, 21 to drink." But in Indiana, you have to be 21 to party. And as anyone who has spent one weekend on campus knows, this policy does not deter many students from drinking or going to a bar, it just sends them on a quest to get a fake ID (violating several state and federal laws in the process) so they can hang out at popular establishments like Boat Club, Corby's and the State. And because everyone who enters the bar is "of age" they can all purchase and drink unlimited quantities of alcohol, leading many underage students to drink to excess on weekends.

But what would happen if students could enter South Bend's finer establishments at the age of 18? Like clubs in many other states, bouncers would distinguish between those who were old enough to drink and those who weren't with hand stamps and wrist bands and while everyone could dance and socialize, only those of age (or, as is the present case anyone with a good enough ID stating that they are 21) would be able to drink. Certainly, some students would continue to seek out that fake ID so that they could purchase alcohol, but my hunch is that a large percentage of students who now have fakes wouldn't find a need for them as they could enter their club of choice and hang out in an environment a little more excited than a dorm room packed with 20 freshmen.

Presumably, Indiana's policy is in effect to prevent minors having access to alcohol. But, instead, it just leads otherwise good students to forge state documents to try and get into a club (and of course preventing underage oldies lovers from singing karaoke at TGI Friday's). Instead of preventing access to alcohol, students decide to obtain false identifications and then can and do drink when perhaps the objective on some of their parts was just to get off-campus. Obviously the best solution would be for underagers to suck it up at wait until they turned 21, but in absence of that, other changes should be considered.

• Seeking logical laws