Last week, the Norman Police Department finally confirmed what I have believed to be true since I arrived in this fine town. When they chose to set up their DUI checkpoint on the street that leads to multiple student apartment complexes, they proved that they are not out to stop drunken driving, they are out to harass students. These checkpoints are not about prevention, they are about intimidation and discrimination against students. Before I go any further, let me say that I am in no way for drunken driving. There is absolutely no excuse to ever get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. If you are dumb enough to drink and drive, you deserve a DUI and everything that goes with it. Now that that's out there, allow me to continue. I wouldn't have much of a problem with the checkpoints in Norman if they weren't blatantly targeting students. These checkpoints are going to be set up outside of known student hot spots every weekend this spring. But they won't be on the on ramps to I-35 on game days next fall to catch all the bombed alumni hitting the highway. They won't be placed outside the VFW or Elk's Lodge to catch wasted old men swerving their way home. They will only be around student apartment complexes because the Norman PD isn't actually concerned with drunken drivers; they are concerned with unruly students. How else do you explain so many minor in possession citations at a DUI checkpoint? How does seeing if a driver is intoxicated lead to a car search? The only explanation is the police are out to punish students for acting like college students.I admit it; the police are more likely to find drunks in the student areas because students drink more than non-students. That doesn't make it right that they are specifically targeting students. These checkpoints make every student a suspect, just because we're in college. It is time that we stand up for ourselves. We have endured some real bullshit for the last year and a half, and enough is enough. We can't drink on campus, we can't go to a party without fearing that an undercover police officer will cite half the partiers for minor in possession and the people that bought the beer for furnishing alcohol to a minor. Now we can't even get to our apartments on a Thursday night without being stopped to see if we've done anything illegal. That's not the way college should be. We should be able to drink beer without the man breathing down our necks. We should be able to have fun the way that every generation before us has without worrying about being kicked out of school. We should be able to have a party in our houses without having them referred to as nuisance houses. We should be able to go wherever we please without being treated like suspected criminals. I understand that many citizens of Norman and the Norman PD see the students of this university as loud hooligans that cause all sorts of trouble, but I think they have forgotten two extremely important details. First, we are only doing exactly what our parents and their parents did before them. College drinking is not new, and is not only going on at OU. The second thing they have forgotten is that without students, there would be no OU and very little reason to live in Norman. OU, and its students, makes this town more than just some suburb of Oklahoma City. Without us, Norman would just be another Noble. Keep in mind, the occupants of these so-called nuisance houses shop at local stores and eat at local restaurants. Students bring more money into the community than any other group of people. Heck, 85 students in football jerseys probably bring more revenue to Norman than the entire non-student population. All we want in return is to be able to sip a beer at a party without being persecuted because we are underage college students. I am not saying don't arrest students for DUIs, but please have a little more respect. -- Bobby Lepak is a entrepreneurship sophomore. His column appears every other Friday, and he can be reached at opinion@oudaily.com.
hello there & you too