ELIZABETH BALIS/Arizona Daily Wildcat Aric Kreeger, microbiology freshman, plays beer-pong with friends Friday night at Jefferson at Star Ranch. Beer-pong is a drinking game based loosely on the rules of pingpong.

Reid Redman has received four minor in possession citations since the school year began, including one a little over a month ago at a Jefferson at Star Ranch party.

Yet Redman, 20, remained undeterred Friday night as he drank a Bud Light on the balcony of a Star Ranch apartment.

"It doesn't change anything. The only thing it changes is how much I hate the TPD," said Redman, a business sophomore. "I don't understand why they should be using so much force."

More than 57 people were taken to jail after the Aug. 29 bust when more than 50 Tucson law-enforcement officers surrounded and confined partyers at the West-side complex. A similar bust at a Star Ranch party last May landed 74 in jail.

Redman received his most recent MIP a week ago, just three months before his 21st birthday.

"The thing that I question is why the cops are here. This is one of the biggest cities for auto theft in the country, and they're busting underage drinking," Redman said.

While the arrests might have done little to curb underage drinking, the impression the police presence has made on the minds of Star Ranch residents is undeniable.

"When someone knocks on the door, we get paranoid. We're always looking over our shoulder, for sure," said Hamed Beytollah, 19, a general biology sophomore who lives with three roommates at Star Ranch.

"But it's not the kind of thing that makes us stop

partying," Beytollah added.

Eric Steiner, pre-business sophomore and Beytollah's roommate, fondly remembers the Star Ranch security force that has been replaced with police officers.

"Last year we were friends with security; they even knew us by name. Security would let us do what we wanted as long as they didn't smell drugs. They made sure that whenever anything too wrong happened they would let us know and it would get taken care of," said Steiner. "We would even barbecue for them."

Beytollah said that the Tucson Police Department seemed to have more leniency on underage drinking last year.

"The cops last year, they would show up and let people leave," Beytollah said. "They have this idea now that they want to curb drinking to 21, but that'll never happen."

Mark Jordan-Poinset, a journalism sophomore and Star Ranch resident, has also had to keep a lookout for the cops when drinking.

"We don't drink outside; now that the cops are here we're more wary," Jordan-Poinset said.

Yet despite the police presence, Jordan-Poinset plans to stay at Star Ranch next year.

"It's better than living in a house; it's safe here," he said. "You meet a lot of cool people here."

Sharon Kallan and Jennifer Whitfield, two TPD officers on patrol at Star Ranch Friday night, said that they have the interests of Star Ranch residents in mind.

"We're trying to keep it safe for people living here and keeping people who don't live here out," said Whitfield.

Whitfield said that Jefferson at Star Ranch asked Tucson Police to patrol its grounds, and it pays TPD for the service.

"It's a special detail we get paid extra for. Its not taking officers off the street," Whitfield said.