<p>So does "freshmen (1st years, if you like) can't drive" mean "we're okay with underage drinking" at all schools, or just at the University of Virginia? Is it fair that, thanks to the University's "drink but be safe" mentality, people who obey the law shouldn't be able to drive to the grocery store, for instance?</p>
<p>um, i don’t quite follow you, but there is an answer to your question.</p>
<p>1) under the university’s “rules,” freshman can’t have cars because there’s too much traffic in c’ville (whole heartedly agree).</p>
<p>2) there is no body to enforce that rule, no way to enforce that rule, and no possibility of that rule being enforced (i had a car all first year and got numerous UVa tickets). this rule is basically a nice way of saying “we will not issue you a parking permit.”</p>
<p>3) if you get arrested by the police/uva police drinking underage, you’re pretty ****ed.</p>
<p>hope that helps</p>
<p>All the cool kids drink underage unless they’re on a varsity athletics team and it interferes with their workout/practice schedule.</p>
<p>1) they don’t forbid you from having a car, they just don’t give parking permits to first years because there a) just isn’t enough room for everyone to have a car on-grounds b) is too much traffic already</p>
<p>2) the rule has no connection to drinking. The University doesn’t mix and mingle with the law, they just have reasons to keep the extra couple thousand cars off grounds (see #1)</p>
<p>3) the whole DUI enforcing stuff is the police’s job. If you find a way to have a car as a first year, the University could care less about what you do with it. It’s the UVA/C’ville police that care if you park illegally or drink and drive.</p>
<p>4) to add on to Jags #3, if you get caught drinking here, it’s underage possession, and it’s a big deal (court, year probation, alcohol classes, probation officer). Get caught twice and its a bigger deal ($500 fine or 50 hrs community service, license suspended 6-12 months). </p>
<p>5) UVA in no way condones drinking. At all. Instead, they’re saying if you drink (and they mean 21+ people too), be safe. That means don’t over-drink, don’t drive drunk, etc. They tell you this to help you stay alive and stay out of jail.</p>
<p>Numbers one and four are wrong. Number five is somewhat wrong.</p>
<p>I can come up with numerous examples of where the University tries to educate first years on the dangers of drinking. For example, one of the organizations gives away those B.A.C. cards so students know the amount of alcohol they can consume before it’s alcohol poisoning. I’d argue that, in a way, that condones drinking.</p>
<p>Is it really an Albemarle County law that first years can’t drive? I don’t really believe it, I just heard it a couple times.</p>
<p>If your R.A. catches you with beer in your room, there’s no “court, year probation, alcohol classes, probation officer.”</p>
<p>I’m also not buying the “there’s not enough parking” argument. Ever seen the Scott Stadium lots on a non-football Saturday? No university that I’ve ever been to (except maybe VT) has enough parking. They still sell parking passes to freshmen. Is Charlottesville’s traffic worse than that of major metropolitan areas?</p>
<p>Dunno about #1, but #4 is correct. Trust me, it’s personal experience, I know. And #5 is a judgment about UVA from me, so how is that wrong?</p>
<p>To clarify about #4: if you’re caught by police and get charged with underage possession is when that all occurs. You also get VSOC-ed, and while this is still being figured out, apparently you can be brought before UJC if it’s on-grounds (but it’s unknown if it’s just because it’s dorms, or because of other conditions, such as the amount you get caught with…again, unsure) If you get caught by a RA, it’s a plain VSOC.</p>