Anti-alcohol efforts wise

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: April 25, 2008

Foxfield is becoming increasingly pro-active in its efforts to curb illegal drinking at the spring event so popular with the college crowd.
And that’s excellent.
At last spring’s races, 85 people were arrested — 84 in the student section. Last year, emergency medical technicians treated 107 people — 106 for alcohol-related symptoms.
Those statistics tell the story about what’s one of the major problems at the Foxfield Races and who are the major problem-makers. Many students see Foxfield as a big outdoor party, coming as it does just a couple of weeks before the end of school.
And last year’s statistics were compiled after several years’ worth of effort trying to get the word out to students, at the University of Virginia and elsewhere, that drinking and other illegal behavior won’t be tolerated.
In a presentation to UVa students this week, Foxfield officials, UVa representatives and Albemarle County police explained what to expect — and what not to do — at Saturday’s races:
No illegal drinking, no resisting arrest, no glass liquor bottles, no fake IDs, no counterfeit tickets.
Other advice was far simpler, such as: Drink plenty of water.
Foxfield is expected to attract 24,000 people on Saturday. That’s a lot of cars on the roads — and a lot of potentially impaired drivers.
Authorities are extra-concerned because this year Foxfield coincides with Albemarle County proms. That will put another group of young people on the roads, and another group of drivers who might be impaired.
Like the Foxfield group, public school officials and parents are putting even more stress this year on the importance of not drinking and driving.
The stakes are high — far greater than a wager on a horse race.
The lives and safety of hundreds of people are at stake — both those who might poison themselves by overdrinking and those who might put themselves and others at risk by driving while drunk.
Futures are at stake — a mistake now could cost a career, if not a life. Some students want to become doctors, teachers, lawyers, said police Cpl. Sean Hackney. An arrest for an alcohol-fueled fight or some other dangerously escalating behavior could impair future success.
To a lesser degree, Foxfield’s future success is also at stake. Over recent years the venerable races, a Charlottesville tradition formerly treated with greater appreciation, has drawn detractors who complain about the increased traffic congestion, the increased risk from drunken drivers and the uncivil behavior that neighbors have to put up with from drunks.
These complaints have coincided with a change in the event crowds. A greater proportion of the spring race crowd has become students looking for a good time, rather than horse lovers enjoying the races; and as the races gained a reputation as a party destination, that reputation grew, attracting more of the same.
Foxfield officials have been trying to reverse that trend.
Success will require a long-term effort and the willingness to be even more pro-active if events warrant.