Three UW Students Fined $86K For House Party

[TallTitan34]

This isn't going to help their recruiting 

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/10/3-university-of-wis-students-fined-86k-for-party.html

[reinko]

If I would have gotten fined 86K for every house party that I threw, procured alcohol at, and encouraged underage people to drink at, I might owe in the neighborhood of about $4 million dollars...

[TallTitan34]

That would be 47 parties. 

[GGGG]

If I would have gotten fined 86K for every house party that I threw, procured alcohol at, and encouraged underage people to drink at, I might owe in the neighborhood of about $4 million dollars...

The Madison police are generally pretty lenient when it comes to house parties, unless they get way out of hand or they believe there is a safety problem.  In this case, the crowds were huge and they were a bunch of dbs when they came over to break it up.  The fine was a message pure and simple...it will eventually be reduced.

[reinko]

That would be 47 parties. 

That sounds about right 

[chapman]

I went there first semester freshman year.  It was ironic that campus police would make several passes through the dorms every night hoping to bust underage kids drinking in their rooms, but when I walked on the street at night I felt less safe on the UW campus than the MU campus since there was little to no police presence.

[Hards Alumni]

I went there first semester freshman year.  It was ironic that campus police would make several passes through the dorms every night hoping to bust underage kids drinking in their rooms, but when I walked on the street at night I felt less safe on the UW campus than the MU campus since there was little to no police presence.

Really?

Madison is totally not scary.

[dsfire]

Didn't the Milwaukee police bust up some house party a few years ago that was supposedly getting fined for like $190k?

[StillAWarrior]

That's got to be a tough phone call to make:  "Ummmm...dad...I need to borrow a few bucks.  How much do I need?  Ummmm...just shy of 90 grand..."

[Benny B]

Really?

Madison is totally not scary.

I don't know.... drum circles scare the bejezus out of me.

[LON]

Didn't the Milwaukee police bust up some house party a few years ago that was supposedly getting fined for like $190k?

My friends got hit with one for $24,000, but they got it reduced to around $400 per person...it was in 2005 or 2006, can't remember.

[Ari Gold]

Didn't the Milwaukee police bust up some house party a few years ago that was supposedly getting fined for like $190k?

I remember this. It was spring of 2005, because it was after I got into MU, but was still a senior. The kid kept log books of profits per drink and party and such. its like how Ness got Capone.

[reinko]

Reminds me of Fall 1999 perhaps?  Anyone else around, some house party the cops busted up on like a Thursday night I think.  Cops came barreling in with shotguns, arrested maybe 30-40 kids.  Transported them all in MU vans down to jail for underage drinking...eventually most got off with a warning, maybe a ticket.

[TallTitan34]

Say the cops kick down the door and take all of the residence away. Do they seal the door back up or is it free reign if someone wants to steal their stuff?

[smrunner99]

Reinko I remember that party.  I think it was at the old wrestling house, either way it was past Renee Row and up on like 18 maybe 19th.  I also remember a lot of parents being pissed when they heard their children were rushed with guns.  It was not the greatest PR for MPD.  It would be interesting to know if any alum/parents who were attorneys step up for those involved.    

[NYWarrior]

During the spring of 1990 we hosted a 100 keg party at 1418 West State Street .... What a a party.  We had a 30 foot inflatable Miller Beer can, paid Daren Dee from Hot 102 to DJ the thing, had naked beer slide contests.  Pure insanity & we cleared a profit (just enough to clean up).

The next weekend some guys at UWM had a huge bash and were fined tens of thousands of dollars by the city for unlawfully operating a tavern.  Our party was cited as the impetus for the crackdown in the Journal-Sentinel.   

I'm thirsty.

[TallTitan34]

Not only are you awesome for having a party so great it caused crackdowns, you also got UWM students busted.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Not only are you awesome for having a party so great it caused crackdowns, you also got UWM students busted.

imagine the trouble they all got in when they got home to their parents that night...

well done NY!

[NYWarrior]

Not only are you awesome for having a party so great it caused crackdowns, you also got UWM students busted.

I've gotta find that article..... its gotta be in the attic.  We still laugh about it today. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Reinko I remember that party.  I think it was at the old wrestling house, either way it was past Renee Row and up on like 18 maybe 19th.  I also remember a lot of parents being pissed when they heard their children were rushed with guns.  It was not the greatest PR for MPD.  It would be interesting to know if any alum/parents who were attorneys step up for those involved.    

I remember this. If I recall correctly, the cops received a tip about somebody having a weapon, and that's why they charged in that way.

We had a lot of parties in school, never had any trouble. With this said, we went out of our way to be extra nice to Public Safety, which I think helped. They were pretty good dudes to us, and as long as we were respectful and relatively safe, they gave us a wide birth.

I actually really appreciated the work those guys did. They even told us one time: Our job is not to ruin your fun, it's to keep students safe. If the students are safe, and we don't really care what you are doing.

With this said, I don't know if it's "safe" to pack 150 frosh into a basement, but you get the idea.

I heard a few years later that the policies were a little more strict, which is too bad I guess.

[bma725]

Reinko I remember that party.  I think it was at the old wrestling house, either way it was past Renee Row and up on like 18 maybe 19th.  I also remember a lot of parents being pissed when they heard their children were rushed with guns.  It was not the greatest PR for MPD.  It would be interesting to know if any alum/parents who were attorneys step up for those involved.    

It was the old wrestling house.  My memory is hazy, but the bust could have been a lot bigger than it was.  While the cops were coming in one door, people were running out the other or jumping out the windows to get away.  There were a couple of big busts where crowds of people got underage drinking tickets that year...wrestling house, Triangle, Phi Kapps...maybe one more.

[ChicosBailBonds]

During the spring of 1990 we hosted a 100 keg party at 1418 West State Street .... What a a party.  We had a 30 foot inflatable Miller Beer can, paid Daren Dee from Hot 102 to DJ the thing, had naked beer slide contests.  Pure insanity & we cleared a profit (just enough to clean up).

The next weekend some guys at UWM had a huge bash and were fined tens of thousands of dollars by the city for unlawfully operating a tavern.  Our party was cited as the impetus for the crackdown in the Journal-Sentinel.   

I'm thirsty.

Everyone went to that party

[ATL MU Warrior]

Everyone went to that party

I was at that party.  I remember (vaguely) that the hottest girl in my dorm went with me and my buddies and wanted to get up and sit on my shoulders to try to spot her friends.  I was so drunk I got her up there but promptly let her crash right back down to the ground flat on her back.  Not my best moment and a terrible waste of an opportunity.   

[GGGG]

Everyone went to that party

Yeah...that would have been my senior year and I vaugely recall it.  We lived at the Reeves at 14th and Kilbourn and I remember stumbling home...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Yeah...that would have been my senior year and I vaugely recall it.  We lived at the Reeves at 14th and Kilbourn and I remember stumbling home...

We lived up by the car wash and Taco Bell that year but remember getting over there for a few great parties in that area and on Michigan.  The next year we lived in one of the row houses on Michigan and had our own festivities (but no 100 kegger)

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

We lived up by the car wash and Taco Bell that year but remember getting over there for a few great parties in that area and on Michigan.  The next year we lived in one of the row houses on Michigan and had our own festivities (but no 100 kegger)

Which row house? I know a few Scoopers who where around those parts...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Which row house? I know a few Scoopers who where around those parts...

23rd and Michigan

We were the 2nd one furthest to the west if my memory is still in tact.  LOL.

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/1-l_yA

[tower912]

Spooky.   I was in that one in 87-88.    We had 6 of us sharing the two upstairs apartments, which had a door connecting them.    Occasionally awkward when you had a successful Saturday night, but we managed.    The summer I moved in, there was a woman sexually assaulted in one of the first floor apartments in that building.   And yeah, we knocked down the fences between about 4 of the houses (one was a frat) and had about a 50 kegger with a band in the backyard.  Made our money back + and got shut down around 1 AM by the po-po.   They were cool, though. 

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

23rd and Michigan

We were the 2nd one furthest to the west if my memory is still in tact.  LOL.

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/1-l_yA

Hmm that's a little further west than I had thought.

It's interesting how Michigan has pretty much died off as a party street, at least since I was in school.

[Brewtown Andy]

I remember this. If I recall correctly, the cops received a tip about somebody having a weapon, and that's why they charged in that way.

That's my recollection as well.

We had a lot of parties in school, never had any trouble. With this said, we went out of our way to be extra nice to Public Safety, which I think helped. They were pretty good dudes to us, and as long as we were respectful and relatively safe, they gave us a wide birth.

I actually really appreciated the work those guys did. They even told us one time: Our job is not to ruin your fun, it's to keep students safe. If the students are safe, and we don't really care what you are doing.

I heard a few years later that the policies were a little more strict, which is too bad I guess.

The key is to not let your party spill outside.  If nothing's outside, there's nothing to grab anyone's attention -- not Public Safety, not random people you don't want coming in, and definitely not MPD to send in 18 year old police aides to see how you're operating the party.

[Ari Gold]

23rd and Michigan

We were the 2nd one furthest to the west if my memory is still in tact.  LOL.

http://www.mapquest.com/mq/1-l_yA

I lived there too! tried to bring Michigan back as a party area as best I could by my roommates were so against it -lame-

[reinko]

Why did you live with such squares Ari?

[tower912]

What are the odds of 3 scoopers living in the same house at different times?

[Brewtown Andy]

What are the odds of 3 scoopers living in the same house at different times?

Given the boom of available housing, increasingly smaller every year.

[77ncaachamps]

That would be 47 parties. 

That sounds about right 

You're forgetting to adjust for inflation.

In Reinko's case, it might be more like 125+ parties.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hmm that's a little further west than I had thought.

It's interesting how Michigan has pretty much died off as a party street, at least since I was in school.

Things have changed dramatically since I was there. Renee Row opened my Senior Year, which drew many more people back closer to campus.  Humphrey Hall was completed my Junior year (I think), same thing.   When I first started, we had MU students being bussed all the way from 26th street at "West" or whatever it was.  That is probably not even remotely an option today.

[Ari Gold]

Why did you live with such squares Ari?

I didn't know they were squares until after I signed the lease.
Throw up on the floor of the bathroom once and everyones up in Arms.

[MUBurrow]

Its cool to see the stories of these parties (and whether they were busted) coalesced into a thread.  When I was in school - I graduated a couple of years ago - the stories of tickets in the thousands and thousands of dollars always kind of kept us on our toes with our parties.  The buzzword was to avoid the illegal tavern ticket, where we heard that the police fined a certain dollar amount to the hosts for every kid drinking there.  With evidence that we were charging, so the story went, the people didnt even need to be underage to count in the tally.  This mythical penalty was the main reason we eased off the gas pedal a little after our first MPD warning.