City police have made it a point to crack down on underage drinking this semester, and now state agencies have joined forces to embark on their own campaign.

The Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, the governor's office and the Arizona Highway Patrol plan to target underage drinkers in bars and restaurants around the three state universities.

This is the first year the DLLC will work with the governor's office and the highway patrol.

Bars and underage students may be subject to misdemeanor penalties and fines.

Although the DLLC is not specifically targeting college students, it has been made clear that UA students will not be excluded.

"College students are included in the areas; we're just enforcing the statute," said Leesa Berens-Morrison, director of the DLLC. "The best thing I can say about our holiday enforcement is that it's the law. If you're underage, you shouldn't be drinking."

Brandon Sato, a pre-pharmacy freshman, said he doesn't think the crackdown is a big deal.

"There's a lot of underage drinking going around, especially for the holiday when people are going home," he said. "If people are going to do that, they're taking a risk."

Tim Christensen, an engineering physics freshman, said that he thinks the joint effort might deter underage drinkers from going to the bars.

"If they find out, I don't think many people will do it," he said.

Many establishments near campus that serve alcohol aren't concerned over the surge of enforcement that may include more undercover stings.

"I think it's bogus," said Gary Welch, owner of Dirtbag's on East Speedway Boulevard and North Campbell Avenue. "The Tucson Police Department already does this kind of thing so we're not worried."

Welch said that even though Dirtbag's shuts down for the holidays, the usual checkups are enough to determine if businesses are operating within the law.

Other owners and managers reflected similar sentiment.

"We deal with it all the time," said Kiki Kirchossner, general manager of Maloney's Tavern. "We're very confident in our capable door staff and situation at hand."

The DLLC will not only send undercover investigators into the bars, it also plans to send pre-selected young people from ages 15-19 into convenience stores to buy liquor. They are not allowed to lie, and when asked for their age and I.D., they give their authentic one.

Berens-Morrison is confident that this new joint venture will help streets and highways become safer over the holidays.

"We're not trying to operate in a Îgotcha' type enforcement," said Berens-Morrison. "We just want to make the holidays safer for people."