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Unofficial St. Patrick's Day

Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day:
  

Unofficial St. Patrick's Day is a holiday that happens at the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana once a year; typically it happens on the first Friday in March. Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day is a drinking holiday where students, visitors or any participants get up early in the morning and start drinking relentlessly. According to Kris Kirkpatrick, University of Illinois Police Officer, “one Facebook account shows 6,771 confirmed guests to their site which supports the event.” Teachers either cancel class or don’t go over much material during the holiday because a good portion of their class will be intoxicated by that time.

History:
Scott Cochrane, president of Cochrane Enterprises, started Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day in March of 1996. Cochrane also owns three campus bars in Champaign, Il: Firehaus, C.O. Daniel’s, Clybourne. Cochrane now has a service mark, a trademark but for a service instead of a product, for the holiday. Originally, Cochrane (formally Tonic), C.O.Daniel’s, the Clybourne, and R&R were the first bars to be open on Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day. Scott compared those four bars to a four leaf clover.

Spring Break was moved so as to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day which is an important economic event for bar owners in Champaign. Cochrane decided to create Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day as a way of still having St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the University of Illinois.

”I love it," Cochrane said. "You see kids walking down the street wearing green, white and orange. It's our own holiday, the biggest St. Patrick's celebration (in town)."

Before 2006, bars would typically open up at 8 am, but now they are being forced to open up later at 11 am. This could be a problem says Cochrane because many students will still be drinking but they will be drinking at home without supervision. This could lead to a higher level of irresponsibility and irrational behavior says Cochrane.

Cochrane used to be on the Champaign Liquor Advisory Commision, but was removed also in 2006 because of a conflict of interest between the city and Cochrane’s financial ties with Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day.

Out of School Visitors:
During Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day a wide variety of guests come in to the small, college oriented community of Champaign- Urbana to get drunk and belligerent. These out of town participants are known protagonists and end up causing a lot of trouble to unsuspecting people and property. The 2008 Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day had a total of 199 notices to appear in court where only 30% of those tickets were given to University of Illinois Students. There are over 27 institutions that were represented in this years Unofficial: • University of Illinois • Western Michigan University • Triton Community College • DePaul University • University of Wisconsin • Indiana University • Loyola University • Beloit College • Eastern Illinois University • Western Illinois University • Parkland College • Northern Illinois University • University of Ill. Chicago • Illinois State University • Illinois Weslyan University • Drake University • University of Michigan • Marquette University • University of Iowa • Morraine Valley Community College • Joliet Community College • Washington University • Purdue University • Wheaton College • Southern Illinois University Edwardsville • Oakton Community College • Harold Washington Community College

Public Health, Property in Danger:
There are many different things that go on during Unofficial, but nothing is as bad as some of the problems that have happened most recently. According the News Bureau, February 15th/07, at the University of Illinois: “The March 3, 2006 “Unofficial” celebration resulted in more than 100 arrests and the death of a 22-year-old alumna who was wearing an “Unofficial” T-shirt when she fell off a motorcycle and sustained fatal head injuries at the intersection of Wright and Healey streets in Champaign.” However, there are many different problems that are being associated with Unofficial. There are the costs that are steadily increasing due to the lashing out of drunken participants to nearby surroundings and people. The News Bureau in 2007 also said that: “During “Unofficial” 2006, calls to Champaign police increased by 42 percent, with 157 calls in 2005 and 223 in 2006; calls to Urbana police increased by 57 percent, with 21 calls for service in 2005 and 33 in 2006.

Overtime costs for UI, city and state police and firefighters during “Unofficial” 2006 were nearly $10,000, an increase of 47 percent over 2005. Clean-up costs increased 70 percent as well, reaching $1,530 for the 2006 event, and losses from theft or destruction of city property totaled $750.”

Efforts Aimed at Public Safety:
The Parent Programs Association is making efforts to try to eliminate Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day from the campus so that there can be a healthier more productive student body at the University of Illinois. There office is located at 1401 W. Green Street, in Urbana, IL 61801. You can reach them by phone at (217) 333-7063, Fax (217) 333-7872, or visit their webpage at www.uofiparents ad.uiuc.edu.