While it's been nearly a semester since the Champaign and Urbana city councils extended bar hours, the predictions of the measure's opponents and supporters have yet to come true. In fact, little seems to have changed.

While the councils voted to extend their hours in late August, both councils have yet to see a comprehensive report on any changes the extended hours may have had on behavior in the cities. However, many officials think there will be few dramatic changes. Urbana Mayor Tod Satterthwaite said he was unsurprised that the changes had been minimal so far, but he understood the fears of the measure's opponents.

"I know there was a lot of concern about safety and changes in behavior, but my prediction was that things would be exactly the same with the extended hours as they were before, only an hour later," Satterthwaite said. "We haven't seen any behavior changes in Urbana bars. Of course, Urbana bars never had a problem to begin with."

Paul Berg, the assistant city manager of Champaign, said that the lack of a comprehensive report made it hard to identify specific changes.

"Until the data is assembled, we just don't have a whole lot of hard information," Berg said. "We put some information together after a couple of months because the media was hounding us but we haven't assembled all the data yet."

Berg said the initial report was based on six different types of calls to the police — battery, disorderly conduct, domestic violence, driving under the influence, fighting and loud music or noise — that are typically associated with alcohol. The report compared the number of each type of call in August and September of this year with the same month of the last two years.

Just for September of this year and last year, the report showed that many of the calls that increased did so only slightly, with disorderly conduct in the campus area increasing from 37 calls in 2002 to 38 in 2003, and driving under the influence increasing from no calls in 2002 to three calls this year. Some types of calls actually decreased, with battery dropping from 12 calls in 2002 to 10 calls this year and fight calls dropping from 35 calls in 2002 to 32 calls this year. Interestingly, total September calls from 1 a.m. to 1:59 a.m. dropped from 56 in 2002 to 26 in 2003, but calls from 2 a.m. to 2:59 a.m. increased from 40 to 60, indicating that many incidents are only occuring later in the night.

"To us, the data did not indicate any significant differences and we couldn't arrive at any conclusions," Berg said.

The January report will be very similar, Berg said, again focusing on the number and type of police calls and comparing them to previous years.

Satterthwaite said he was also waiting on an examination of the effects, but there was no set time for a report to be delivered.

"I would be expecting a report," he said. "I don't know when exactly, but with the first semester ending we'll take a look at the information probably around late January or early February."

Sgt. Scott Friedlein of the Champaign police alcohol enforcement division said that while students might have taken advantage of the changes earlier in the semester, they seem to have settled down now.

"I don't know that a lot of changes have been sustained," Friedlein said. "Before, it was the beginning of the year, people were sort of feeling their oats. Now that the weather is colder and classes have picked up, that seems to have slowed down."

Although he has yet to get hard data, Friedlein agreed the extended hours hadn't really changed behavior — only shifted the times that incidents involving the police occur.

Some students, however, pointed out effects that would be less noticeable to city officials.

"People stay out later," said Cathy Wendt, freshman in FAA, "and if it's during the week, people stay up later and getting to class in the morning is kind of a problem."

Wendt agreed that the change in bar hours had mostly only changed what time people actually go to the bars, but said there had been other consequences.

"I think people still just stay out late, but some people are starting to go a little later because they have the extra hour," she said. "And it seems like more people pre-drink."

Friedlein said he was aware of "pre-drinking" — drinking at home before going to the bars — but he wouldn't know specific changes in pre-drinking habits until the report was completed.

Bob Osiek, co-owner of Esquire Lounge, 106 N. Walnut St., also thought the changes were minimal.

"There have been a handful of weekend nights where it's made a difference, where we've had a lot of people here to the very end," Osiek said. "Other than that, there's always someone here until last call, but not many someones."

Osiek said that there's been no noticeable change in revenue with the extra hour of business, agreeing that patrons seem to come later.

"It wouldn't surprise me if people are actually coming out later," he said. "People who used to come here at 10:30 now come at 11:30. Not many people go to a bar for eight or nine hours."

Additional Information (Brief):

The measure to extend the bar hours in Charleston, Ill., the home of Eastern Illinois University, failed to pass a city council vote by 3-2 last Tuesday. Kyle Donash, the city council liaison for the Eastern Student Senate said the measure failed because council members thought later bar hours would not improve safety concerns in the city.

"The main argument was extending the bar hours wouldn't solve the problems of house parties and inappropriate behavior," Donash said. "The council members felt it wouldn't make things safer."

Donash said that while the vote met mixed reactions from students, the issue isn't dead.

"Some of us saw this as a way to prove that someday we could handle a lower entry age for bars, so that's disappointing," he said. "But some people think this was a good thing and could actually help us get a lower bar age. It's very mixed, but the issue isn't dead right now. Council members will have to do something with the bars. It'll continue to be a pretty hot issue."

— Craig Colbrook