Due to increased OLCC pressure The Twilight Room tightens ID screening
By Lisa McMahan
Located just a few blocks from campus on Lombard Street and Stanford Avenue, the Twilight Room is a convenient place for students to congregate any evening of the week.
Provided they are 21 and over, that is.
"We've basically been taking away a lot of fake IDs," Dave Muldoon, a bartender at the Twilight Room, said.
Staff members at the bar, commonly called the T-Room, have become more meticulous about checking student IDs at the door in an effort to avoid Oregon Liquor Control Commission fines.
"The OLCC is trying to crack down, so we have to crack down," Muldoon said. "I wouldn't say it's become more of a problem, I think we're just noticing it more recently."
The OLCC requires that all businesses or persons manufacturing, distributing or selling alcoholic beverages in Oregon acquire a liquor permit.
In addition, employees at these locations must have a service permit.
"If a person under 21 gets caught drinking, they get a minor in possession. But the person who's sold or provided the alcohol can get in larger trouble, especially if that person is recognized as a permit owner by the state," Muldoon said. "It is a serious crime in the eyes of Oregon state."
Failing to verify the age of a minor is recognized as a Category C violation. The penalties are not only inconvenient, but expensive.
"Our sanction scale is progressive," OLCC Public Affairs Specialist Christie Scott said.
The crime is a Category C violation, and the first time it occurs, the business faces a $1,650 fine or a 10-day suspension, according to Scott.
If the OLCC finds the business in violation of its restrictions again, sanctions increase and the business risks losing its liquor permit entirely.
In addition, the server's individual permit and criminal record would be in jeopardy.
"Not only does the bar get a fine or service suspension. The person who sold has to pay a fine too," Scott said. "And for some of them, it can be a criminal citation."
To avoid penalties, the T-Room is attempting to stop underage students at the door.
"On Thursday nights, we generally have two guys at the door checking IDs," Muldoon said.
Students who regularly visit the T-Room have noticed an increase in ID verification, and, with it, an increase in students turned away from the door.
"They are looking at IDs more closely and asking questions," junior Bridgette Griffin said.
Muldoon has worked at the T-Room for five years and noticed that sometimes he might recognize the person on the ID card, but not the person standing in front of him claiming to be 21.
"I have probably caught about a dozen people doing that," Muldoon said. "'I know this person from last year,'" he would say, "'but you're not them.'"
Bartenders tend to see students either using fake IDs with their own photographs and information, or students trying to pass as an older sibling or friend.
When this happens, the students are not only unable to enter the bar, but their IDs may also be confiscated.
"This way we know that the person isn't going to have that fake ID and try to use it on another bartender here," Muldoon said. "We definitely want the fake IDs out of the hands of people that are using them."
Students who wish to retrieve confiscated IDs must return to the T-Room with a police officer who can verify that the person on the card is the person claiming it, according to Muldoon.
It is not illegal for a business to confiscate an ID that does not belong to its carrier, according to Scott.
"It's a good thing to protect yourself," Scott said.
Even students who have been coming to the T-Room for long periods of time have noticed a change in security.
Senior Lauren Berg frequented the T-Room on a regular basis last semester, and noted that staff members have started to double-check her ID.
"They check it more often even though they know who I am," Berg said. "It seems like they've been more careful."
The increased precautions help deter students under 21 hoping to join in on the fun, but Muldoon wants students to know they can have plenty of fun once they are of age.
"I do understand that people want to come in here but if you're not 21 years old, you can't come into the Twilight Room on Thursday nights. You just can't," Muldoon said.
He believes that the substantial number of underage students trying to enter bars is a common trait of businesses that, like the T-Room, cater largely to the nearby student population.
"Unfortunately the college age isn't 21 to 25. It's 18 to 22," Muldoon said.
The only option for underage students, then, is to wait.
"We like people having fun, but if they're having fun and there's a potential to get in trouble, that's a different story," Muldoon said.
