Interfraternity Council (IFC) President Steve DiOrio spoke to State College Borough Council last night about the increase in noise complaints and underage drinking offenses at fraternities this semester.

DiOrio said he has received many complaints from his constituents this fall about the tactics of State College police in targeting fraternity houses. He asked council what could be done to reduce the number of arrests and the police presence at fraternities.

Police Chief Tom King told council that noise complaints in the Highlands neighborhood and underage drinking arrests on campus have increased this semester. He mentioned about a half dozen reports of 18-year-olds who said they had been drinking at a fraternity before being arrested or taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center, formally known as Centre Community Hospital. There wasn't enough time to go through the entire list of similar offenses, King added.

Mayor Bill Welch said he has talked to many residents who say fraternities are out of control, and it is up to the borough's police force to deal with the problem.

"When the university cut the fraternities loose 20 years ago ... it handed them off to the borough," Welch said.

During DiOrio's opening remarks, he said fraternity members, like all Penn State students, "engage in outside social activities," but they also contribute a lot to the community through involvement in volunteer services and the Interfraternity/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

Welch said in response, "When somebody is streaking in your front yard on Sunday morning, all that other good stuff goes unnoticed."

The problem extends to underage drinking by high school students, council member Janet Knauer said. She said fraternities need to start checking identification more strictly.

Council member Tom Daubert said that in his 30 years as a fraternity adviser, he has never heard of high school students getting in to parties.

Jim Meyer, council member and co-owner of the Autoport Motel and Restaurant, 1405 S. Atherton St., said he has heard conversations between his high school age employees about fraternity parties. He said the problem is worse with young women.

"I don't care what Tom said, they're going there, and they're talking about it," Meyer said. "And if you're female, you're in."

Meyer added that the only way to reduce arrests at fraternity houses is for the hosts of the parties and the IFC to adhere to the same guidelines as bars do. This would include checking identification and stopping people from drinking too much before leaving.

DiOrio said he would take these suggestions seriously. He said hiring security guards to card people at fraternity houses is probably too expensive, but it may be possible to train members to take on the job.

He said IFC has already banned kegs at fraternity parties and may soon be regulating the number of people in attendance, the amount of alcohol allowed to be served and the number of chapters allowed to co-sponsor an event.

"There's no support for free-flowing alcohol at any fraternity functions," DiOrio said.