Senior Julian Estiva said he enjoys occasionally going out withhis friends to The Chug, The Bird and Dill Street Bar.
But since the shooting death of Michael McKinney, 21, by arookie Ball State University police officer last November, he saidsome things have changed.
McKinney's blood alcohol content was 0.343 at the time of theincident, according to the Delaware County coroner's office.
"A lot of my friends are a lot more careful, and we don't go outas much," Estiva said. "I don't know if that has anything to dowith the shooting, but it might subconsciously."
Senior Derek Parisi said he and his friends still enjoy hangingout at the Giant Locker Room and at other spots in the Village.Like Estiva, however, he has also witnessed a slight change in themood among students.
"We are scared, but we're not," Parisi said. "We're not scaredbecause we live here. We're not worried about it, but other thanthat, we would be scared ... It makes you think; it reallydoes."
Parisi said he noticed that many students were a lot morecareful about going out following the shooting, but caution amongstudents has died down. Last year's shooting had a greater effecton this year's freshmen, he said.
"They hear it all the time," Parisi said. "Freshmen coming in(are scared) because they don't know what to expect. Things havechanged; their mindset is completely different."
Freshman Brittany Singleton, however, said she heard aboutMcKinney's shooting on the news last year, and it didn't stop herfrom coming to Ball State.
"I already felt safe, and I'd already decided I wanted to comehere, and it just didn't affect me," Singleton said. "That couldhappen anywhere."
Freshman Kevin Troyer also said that hearing the incident on thenews didn't prevent him from applying to the university.
"I guess I just didn't have any worries about it because I'm notreally into the party scene all that much," Troyer said. "That'swhere it happened, and I wasn't going to get into any of that."
Senior Ashley Benner, who enjoys visiting Scotty's Brewhouse,The Bird and the Giant Locker Room, said she doesn't thinkMcKinney's shooting has had a significant influence on theuniversity's bar culture.
"It made people more cautious at first, but I don't think it hashad an effect," Benner said. "I think people are more afraid of thecops, but I'm personally not. But I drink responsibly. But itdefinitely crosses my mind that it can happen to anyone."
Since the shooting, Benner said she generally sees more peoplewalking home in groups instead of walking alone.
Ball State graduate Aaron Stewart, who serves as a bartender atThe Chug, said the bar monitors its patrons and avoids servingthose who are already intoxicated.
"We always try to," Stewart said. "Especially at the door ifthey're already intoxicated when they get here, we don't let themin. We have bouncers who walk around and keep an eye on them, andwe're willing to do whatever they need."
Stewart said students, however, still have the responsibility ofkeeping themselves safe while having a good time.
"Really, it's the person's responsibility, but we're in aposition to help with that idea," Stewart said. "I think it isreally important to help other people."
Scott Dalton, general manager of the Giant Locker Room, said thebar has always had a strict policy on knowingly serving intoxicatedpeople, which is illegal according to Indiana law.
"One thing we can admit to is that we are watching a lot more,"Dalton said. "We are cutting off a lot of people ... We will notlet them drink when they are intoxicated."
Dalton said he believes students who frequent the bar are fairlyresponsible, but they can still practice safety when drinking.
"They obviously need to face themselves and moderate what theydrink," he said.
Estiva said while the incident has affected the drinkingbehavior of some students, most students who go out to the barshaven't changed.
"The way they drink, you can't change that," Estiva said. "Theydrink as much as they want to drink, but in getting home, I thinkthey're more careful about getting home."
While the shooting did cause a temporary scare among students,many students have gotten over that fear and have moved on, Estivasaid.
"They don't think it's going to happen to them, and after awhile, they forget these things, and history repeats itself," hesaid.
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