Turning 21 is a milestone in the eyes of the American legal system. Once you turn 21, you are finally, for the first time ever, allowed to drink alcohol. This particular law, however, does not necessarily reflect the reality of our country’s consumption of alcohol.
The reality of the situation is that most people consume alcohol well before the age of 21. However, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has made efforts to remind the public about the consequences that come with underage drinking, specifically the use of fraudulent identification.
Mark Lowe, the director of the Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division, said a package of 24 fake licenses was recently delivered to students in Cedar Falls, which resulted in the arrest of two individuals. Lowe also said that the problem exists in other college towns, such as Iowa City and Ames.
So where does that leave Grand View? Being a private university where students are athletes, the problem doesn’t exist here … right?
“I got my fake ID when I was a freshman,” said Spencer Elbert, a former GV student-athlete. “It was definitely helpful with getting into bars and buying alcohol from retail stores.”
According to Elbert, it wasn’t hard at all to obtain a fake ID. It was more or less just the same as purchasing something from Amazon.com.
“There was a group of us who did it because the price goes down if you order more,” Elbert said. “All we did was send a word document with what we wanted the ID to say. Next, we took pictures of ourselves and sent him the money via wire transfer. It was $100 for two copies.”
Elbert got his fake ID four years ago, which makes him of legal drinking age today. But he is not the only one who owned up to using a fake ID.
In order to protect his identity and avoid potential consequences, a freshman student-athlete requested to remain anonymous in this story.

Photo by Andrew Clements

“I’m glad it came with two copies of the ID because I got one taken from a gas station already,” he said. “Other than that, it’s been perfect. I just hand it to the bouncer or cashier and they give it back. But if they do take this one, I’ll just order another.”
Getting a fake ID confiscated seems fairly harmless, but depending on how the venue decides to handle it, there could be a wide range of consequences. Per the Iowa DOT release, the consequences of falsifying a public document include a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of five years in prison, a suspension of driving privileges for up to six months and a fine of $750 to $7,500. Likewise, the use of a driver’s license or ID card by an underage person to obtain alcohol is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $200 and a six-month driver’s license suspension.
Like the consequences for the individual using the fake ID, the business that serves a minor could face a wide variety of consequences as well. Local restaurateur Nick Kuhn said serving a minor can be detrimental to a business.
“Bartenders and wait staff are responsible for their own customers,” Kuhn said. “Serving a minor will result in a $500 fine and up to a 60-day suspension for a first offense. If it happens again, the fine and suspension get bigger.”
If it becomes a repeated problem at a particular establishment, they can face consequences that require them to shut down for anywhere from three days to closing the doors for good.
In order to serve alcohol to customers, the state of Iowa requires all bartenders or service staff to be certified. This certificate can be earned online through the Iowa Program for Alcohol Compliance Training.
Dom Bowman, a bartender for The Hall at The Foundry in Valley Junction, said fake IDs are easy to spot.
“If the back has nothing on it, it’s obviously a fake,” Bowman said. “Most real IDs have something special about them, like a watermark or reflective piece that can’t be easily replicated.”
Because Bowman is liable for the customers he serves, he has the right to refuse service to anyone.
“If I’m skeptical I just hand the ID back and politely refuse to serve them,” Bowman said. “I haven’t confiscated any because it is always possible that I am the one in the wrong.”
Underage drinking has become a societal norm in the U.S. With it, there are potential consequences. However, it seems college students today are more interested in the reward than they are worried about the risk.