May I see your ID?

The bartender asked for Katie's ID and she pulled one out of her black sequined purse. Barely glancing at the driver's license, the bartender handed it back and fixed the drink Katie ordered.

Katie's ID picture resembles her at first glance -- the girl on the ID and Katie both have blonde hair. But a closer look at the ID reveals it isn't Katie.

Underage and drinking, 19-year-old Katie took a sip of the mixed drink and walked back over to her friends.

Every one of the four girls was under 21, and all had an alcoholic beverage in hand.

"Basically a lot of our friends have fake IDs," Katie said. Each of Katie's friends were using either an older sibling's ID or a real driver's license that belonged to someone else.

Katie explained that her fake ID, a real driver's license, was passed down to her from a 21-year-old sorority sister.

"She went into the license place and told them she lost her ID, so they made her another one," Katie said.

The group of girls knows which bars serve to underage drinkers. One bar the girls once frequented won't serve them anymore because it got caught by liquor patrol serving to minors, Katie said.

Katie and her friends know what they do is illegal. But they don't stop to think about the consequences of getting caught.

They didn't know they could be arrested for possession by consumption if police determine they are visibly intoxicated or have a blood alcohol level of 0.02 percent or more.

They didn't know minors who are found guilty of consuming alcohol now face a mandatory 30-day initial suspension of their driver's licenses.

Even after being made aware of this fairly new law, which went into effect Aug. 28, they didn't seem concerned.

They continued partying late into the night at two other downtown bars without any problem getting served alcoholic beverages. One bartender didn't even ask the girls for IDs.

In the past year, Cape Girardeau police have arrested 66 minors for possessing alcohol. These charges account for those minors caught drinking at bars or restaurants, at parties, driving while intoxicated and using fake IDs in convenience stores.

The number of minors charged seems small, considering that close to 60 percent of Southeast Missouri State University's under-21 population drinks alcohol, said Kevin Stewart, coordinator for substance abuse and prevention education at Southeast. Based on an April 2005 survey, that's approximately 3,600 minors attending Southeast and drinking alcohol.

Stewart knows underage drinking is a problem at the university. "As with every other campus I'm aware of, students' alcohol use is the leading problem universities face," he said.

The main reason so many college students drink is because drinking has become part of the perceived culture of college life, Stewart said. "Students have an ethic of work hard, play hard," he said.

According to the Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center, more than 18 percent of all alcohol sold in Missouri was consumed by underage drinkers in 2001. "The majority of students will mature out of the abusive drinking," Stewart said. "But it's the resultant problems they may encounter while still in school that can have long-term consequences."

Special agent Mike Kolb with the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and four other agents go undercover to patrol establishments serving alcohol. Most every weekend the undercover agents pose as regular customers in Cape Girardeau's bars or restaurants, seeking underage drinkers and those who serve them.

Kolb doesn't think underage drinking is out of control in Cape Girardeau.

"It's just like any other college town," he said. "There isn't really any specific bar that caters to minors. If they did, they would get caught for continually serving to minors."

Bar owners don't know when Kolb or other agents will be working undercover in the bars. But Kolb said at the majority of bars, populated with college students, the undercover agents stick out.

"It's kind of tough for us because we're all older," said Kolb. "I'm over 50, and so when we walk into the bars downtown it's kind of hard for us to fit in."

The Cape Girardeau Police Department's Safe Communities Program conducts compliance checks, using a confidential informant minor to go into local bars or restaurants and attempt to purchase alcohol.

In the past year, compliance checks were done at 22 establishments that serve alcohol. In six local bars and restaurants, the confidential informant minor was served alcohol.

When a bar or restaurant is cited for serving to minors, Kolb said the establishment will receive a violation report. Depending on the number of times an establishment is caught serving to minors, the bar or restaurant could lose its liquor license for a period of time.

"It takes a lot to get your liquor license completely revoked," Kolb said. "There really isn't any place in Cape Girardeau that is a serial offender that serves minors."

In the past year, from January to September, the last month with available data, no local bar or restaurant has lost its liquor license for serving alcohol to a minor, according to the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control Web site.

Mark Weber, owner of Rude Dog, said he has caught a few people trying to use fake IDs at the bar.

"I'll take the ID from the person and turn it in to the police department," Weber said. "I'm sure there are places that minors know they can drink in. I'm just happy we don't have that reputation here."

When a fake ID is turned over to the police department, officers will try and track down the minor who used the ID. Minors using fake IDs can receive summonses for misrepresentation of age.

Jeremiah's, 127 N. Water St., has doormen checking IDs at its door. Owner Don Ganim said the doormen take two fake IDs away from minors on an average weekend.

"It's something we're always fighting, but I think we do a great job controlling it," Ganim said about fake ID use.

One of the main problems bar owners face with fake IDs is that people can easily create realistic IDs using computer programs or purchase them over the Internet, Ganim said.

Dozens of Internet sites advertise fake IDs or free templates to create IDs yourself.

Southeast Missouri State University is a dry campus, meaning alcohol is not permitted on its premises.

Students caught with alcohol, or exhibiting disorderly behavior, attributed to the consumption of alcohol, are sent to Stewart's office for counseling and a two-part class on alcoholism. If the violation is more serious or a second offense, more counseling sessions and additional course work will be required of the student.

University police can also charge or arrest students for minor in possession of alcohol.

"We can't stop underage drinking," Stewart said. "We address the issue by making sure these young adults are informed of the consequences of their choices and increase their awareness of those consequences."

Katie and her friends don't plan on stopping their late nights of drinking and partying while they attend college at Southeast.

"College kids are going to drink no matter what," Katie said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com