Students may think twice before sipping from a Solo cup come midnight tonight, in lieu of a slew of changes made to DWI laws in North Carolina.

The General Assembly passed the bill, “The Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act of 2006,” during the short summer session. The bill goes into effect Dec. 1, and while this bill is largely a revision of drunk driving policies, it also makes underage consumption illegal, and requires all kegs be purchased with a permit.

According to Chief Tom Younce of Campus Police, these are the parts of the bill that will have the most effect on the University.

In the past, it was only illegal for those underage to purchase and posses alcohol. Section 25 of the new bill, however, makes it “illegal for a person under 21 years of age to consume as well as possess alcohol.”

Younce said any law enforcement officer with reasonable suspicion is able to ask someone suspicious of drinking underage to take an alcohol screening test.

According to Younce, while the suspect can refuse the test, he or she can still be charged with underage consumption. And Younce said this consumption is now considered a class-3 misdemeanor.

“It’s not an infraction. It’s a criminal violation,” he said. “It goes on your record as a criminal.”

Enrico Bigoni, a 23-year-old junior in mechanical engineering, is unaffected by the change in underage consumption, but said he supports it because people underage shouldn’t be drinking.

He said he likes that an officer is still able to give someone underage a ticket, even if he or she refuses the alcohol screening test. However, he did say he thinks it is a little harsh for it to go on their permanent record.

Bigoni said he doesn’t approve of the permit required for the purchase of a keg, though.

The new permit guidelines are addressed in Section 3.1 of the bill. It states that a keg, meaning “a portable container designed to hold and dispense 7.75 gallons or more of malt beverage,” may only be purchased with a permit from the store named on said permit.

The bill also states “the purchaser shall display his copy of the permit to any law-enforcement officer upon request.”

According to Younce, if police were to break up a party, the person named on the permit could be charged with providing alcohol to minors present.

Sgt. Jon Barnwell of Campus Police said the University has a “good number” of underage alcohol issues on campus, but no more than any school of N.C. State’s size.

He said Campus Police doesn’t want to see any student get in trouble. According to Barnwell, the more students are educated about the consequences of an action, the less likely they are to do it.

However, 19-year-old Stephanie Millard, a sophomore in animal science, said she thinks the new regulations will make underage students want to drink more.

“It gives younger people more of an incentive,” she said. “I know people that’ll be like ‘oh yeah, lets go break the law!'”

She said she thinks the consequences are a “little extreme,” but other than that she thinks cracking down on underage drinking is a good idea.

Barnwell said underage students looking forward to the Hillsborough Hike should be wary.

“The new law will be in effect, and charges will be applicable,” he said.

He said he thinks students will look at the ramifications, though, and make the right choice.

The new regulations will go into effect as of 12:01 a.m. tonight.

“The bottom line is, if you’re under the age of 21, don’t drink,” Younce said.