Intl. students get 'Mad' over ID incident

You've had a long day. You just want to kick back with some friends and a have a few drinks at a quiet outdoor table sheltered from the whirlwind of daily college life. But you can't. Because you're Colombian or Japanese or Indian, and the waitress doesn't believe that your international ID is valid. Such was the fate that befell a group of nine International House residents August 25 when they tried to order alcoholic drinks at Mad 4 Mex on Moravian Street. All of the residents, all of whom were Penn students, were over 21. Several of them were from abroad. Following restaurant policy, the waitress asked the students to produce ID. When she didn't recognize the IDs, she took them to the restaurant manager, according to Douglas Robinson, a student researcher in the Medical School who is from Holland. The manager initially rejected the foreign IDs because they weren't listed in a book of state driver's licenses published by the Liquor Control Board, the state agency that regulates the licensed beverage industry. Mad 4 Mex and other restaurants use the book to confirm the validity of an ID. "We weren't concerned about being served or not," said College senior Cory Quach, who was with the group at Mad 4 Mex. "We were concerned with the ridiculousness of having very valid IDs that are questioned." But Mad 4 Mex General Manager Andre Braxton, who wasn't in the restaurant the night of the incident, said it's not unreasonable for servers to reject foreign IDs when they can't confirm that the ID is genuine. "The burden of proof is on [the customer]," said Paul Ryan, the owner of Smokey Joe's, a bar and restaurant on 40th Street. According to the LCB, anyone wanting to purchase alcohol must be able to produce one of four types of photo ID -- a United States driver's license, a non-driver's license, a law enforcer's ID card or a passport or visa. The ID must confirm that the holder is over 21. If servers are not convinced that an ID is valid, they are required by state law to refuse service to the customer. "If you're obviously over 21, then it shouldn't be a problem," said LCB administrator Derrick Jackson. "But if you look like you're close to 21, then I would suggest you carry a passport." But this may present problems, according to some international students. "We don't encourage students to carry their passport with them at all times," said Ann Kuhlman, the associate director of International Student and Scholar Services. "Because if they were to lose [the passport], those are hard documents to replace." With no official published book of foreign IDs and no plans at the LCB to alter ID laws, Kuhlman speculated that ISSS might be able to arrange for some other form of identification acceptable to restaurants and practical for students. Those IDs would have to overcome another obstacle as well -- the fact that foreign IDs are often written in different languages using other alphabets and systems of birth dating. Braxton said he has offered some foreign students the option of bringing a photocopy of their passport into Mad 4 Mex, where it would then be kept on file and could be referred to whenever that student ordered alcohol. So far, no one has taken him up on his offer. The issue of students being unable to use foreign IDs has never before been made known to ISSS or to the Office of International Programs, although a number of international students have experienced ID rejections at the New Deck Tavern, Cavanaugh's, the dance club Maui and the White Dog Cafe. But the recent national furor over underage drinking has prompted increased monitoring of bars by the LCB. In turn, bar owners are asking to see more IDs. "The state police treat campus bars differently than they treat all other bars in the city," said Cav's owner Bill Pawlicvek, explaining that he is under "tougher scrutiny" because the University is largely a community of minors. Pawlicvek added: "We card everyone so as to avoid mistakes because everyone judges a person's age differently." But Ryan acknowledged that international students might get some undue additional attention. "Are foreign students hassled a little more when the come in the door? Ryan said."Probably. Unfortunately."