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The bouncer beat

Jennifer Ross

You wake up with a pounding headache, nausea and severe dehydration. For a second, you might be coming down with something ... until, of course, you notice the big black X inked onto your hand.

The X may wash off, but what about the person who examined the ID, drew the X and made sure chaos did not erupt?

With more than 10 bars on High Street alone and even more along other Oxford roads, crowd control is a potential employment opportunity for students at Miami University. And for those who become student bouncers, nights are spent doing something other than letting loose on the dance floor and scoring drinks from unusually generous peers-they are the first to arrive and the last to leave.

Student bouncers work the door daily at different bars: checking IDs, collecting money, patrolling the dance floor for underage drinking and cleaning until after close at 2:30 a.m. They are the babysitters for their peers, the sober ones amidst the drunken haze of bar life.

All for close to minimum wage and a few tips.

Just part of the job

Allen Wolff, a junior political science major, began working the door at Balcony in September 2007.

"Sometimes I feel like a glorified janitor," Wolff said.

On the whole, Wolff said he genuinely likes his job, explaining that it is the people he works that are his favorite part of the job. He said that despite how tedious the job can be at times, he enjoys the slow pace.

"Mostly, my job is just a lot of sitting," Wolff said.

Wolff also noted that he rarely has to ask people to leave for being too intoxicated.

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Echoing Wolff's statement, Andrew Amarantos, the owner of Skipper's Pub and Top Deck, also feels like he has respectful patrons.

"I can't remember the last time we had an altercation," Amarantos said. "The people that work here and the kids that hang out here are all very easy going."

Junior Sean Manion, a bouncer at Skipper's, agreed with Amarantos and said he could not remember a time in the last two years, other than Green Beer Day, when the cops set foot in Skipper's or Top Deck.

While fights may not take place on a daily basis at Skipper's, Amarantos said some students give the bouncers a hard time when asked to leave.

However, Amarantos said that for bouncers, it's not all about having the ability to turn people away.

When hiring bouncers, he said he looks for a student with a distinct sense of work ethic. With the help of current employees, Amarantos said he looks for students who take pride in doing their job, as well as those who can stay collected in a frenzied environment.

As problems arise

Sophomore Jamieson Rolls was working at Brick Street Bar one night when a student was thrown out and later arrested.

Rolls said it was obvious the student needed to be asked to leave.

"The kid was being an idiot and causing problems with the other patrons so he needed to go," Rolls said. "When he was out of our doors, he continued to mouth off and act belligerently, which was when he decided it would be a good idea to punch and break our glass door."

Rolls said asking someone to leave the premises is a common occurrence at Brick Street. Rolls said he has turned patrons away at the door because they are already too intoxicated, and will physically remove them if they start an altercation.

None of this fazes junior Cortnie Gill. Gill has worked at Brick Street for seven months but recalled her bout of nerves when she had to ask a patron to leave for the first time. A male co-worker had to assist Gill with the process.

"He wasn't rude or rough with me, I just think he was shocked to be kicked out by a girl," Gill said.

According to Gill, Brick Street bouncers will call police even if two patrons continue to fight outside the building after being kicked out. Generally, Gill said police are only called if a patron is extremely intoxicated. If a patron has damaged property, Gill said Brick Street has the right to detain the person.

Will Weisman, co-manager and owner of Brick Street, said his staff tries to be proactive before a problem begins.

"We try to prevent a problem before something happens," Weisman said.

Brick Street isn't the only place where altercations seem to happen.

James Hemberg, a Miami sophomore and bouncer at Pachinko's, said that he asks someone to leave nearly every night he works.

"I turn more people down at the door usually because of a fake ID or if they are already too drunk to come inside," Hemberg said. "If we don't get those guys at the door, they're the ones that cause the fights later."

Gill said she will also threaten to call the police if she suspects a patron is using a fake ID.

"If it's clearly a fake and they are fighting it, I will tell them I can get a cop to confirm it," Gill said.

If someone does try to use a fake ID, Hemberg said he is required to take and hand it into his manager, Ted Woods. Woods then turns the ID into the Miami University Police Department.

Hemberg said that students are allowed to retrieve their IDs in the event that a mistake has been made. Occasionally, Hemberg said an ID has been taken from a person who is actually legal and using a valid ID.

Junior Kelly Havens said she experienced this type of mistake first hand, after being marked as underage at Pachinko's after failing to present an official ID other than her Miami ID.

"I was annoyed because my Miami ID has my birthday and a picture on it, they could clearly see that it was me," Havens said. "I questioned them and tried to explain that it had worked at another bar, but they still wouldn't accept it."

Havens had thought her days with X'd hands were long gone, but for student bouncers the risk of letting it slide is too great.

While Hemberg said that while he wouldn't think twice about rejecting someone he doesn't know with a fake ID, the situation is more difficult when it comes to friends.

"My friends know not to ask me," Hemberg said. "It's just more trouble than it's worth."

Although Rolls admitted to feeling pressured by friends, he promised never act on that pressure. Rolls said he must follow the rules of his job or pay the more serious consequences that come along with underage drinking.

His co-worker Gill said she also feels the pressure.

"It's more in my head," Gill said. "I feel bad because I know they want me to let them in over, but they all understand that I can't."

Not all bouncers are as conscientious as Hemberg, Rolls and Gill.

Junior Michelle Macksood said she recalled receiving an overage wristband while still underage.

"One time I showed them my ID expecting to get X's on my hands and they said, 'Oh close enough,'" Macksood said. "My birthday wasn't even for another month or two."

All in a day's work

As warm weather replaces winter wind and sandals replace boots, Amarantos said he predicts his patio will soon begin to get crowded again.

While the crowds may bring more work for the bouncers, Wolff and his fellow student bouncers all said they generally enjoy their jobs working crowd control. Coworkers, tips and a flexible schedule all help them to avoid thinking of it as "work."

While Hemberg said reporting for work is not always easy, it's necessary.

"It's never fun especially after a full week of classes, but when you need money you need money," Hemberg said.

Rolls said his only complaint as a student bouncer is the bad reputation obtained from working crowd control.

"I think that bouncers are hated on," Rolls said. "There's this perception that these are people that don't like to have fun, and are on a huge power trip trying to ruin your night, but essentially you have to do the job you signed up for."


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