Many of us look back on our eighteenth birthdays as a watershed in our lives: a time we gained freedom, responsibility, and respect. Now that we look back upon that time, we realize how quickly we have forgotten the excitement of being treated as "adults."

A few freshmen on campus, however, have not yet reached their eighteenth birthdays. These freshmen are constantly reminded of their status as a minor. They can’t go clubbing with their friends, they need their parents to sign permission slips and fill out health forms, and so on.

Even more severely, these seventeen-year-old students must watch out for the public curfew: no minors are permitted to be out in any "public place" after 10 pm. Public places are "including, but not limited to" streets, sidewalks, hospitals, areas of entertainment, public areas, and the list goes on.

A few exceptions do exist; for example, minors are permitted to be outside of their homes if they are within 50 feet of their homes, married, accompanied by parents or guardians, in an emergency, or are in the armed forces.

Just two weeks ago, two Pomona freshmen were ticketed for being in a Korean karaoke bar after curfew hours. Four freshmen entered the karaoke bar at approximately 10 pm. The lady working at the bar asked to see their ID’s, and she informed them that they would be denied service because two of the students, Jonder Ho ’05 and Victor Leung ’05, were underage. The group turned to leave, but she called them back, explaining, "We’ll just make an exception for you." Having absolutely no idea that the policy was public law, the four freshmen entered the bar and were given a room.

Exactly fifty-seven minutes later, a group of policemen walked into the bar, entered the group’s locked room, and curtly demanded to see their ID’s. Ho and Leung were taken outside, issued tickets, fingerprinted, and essentially, harassed.

When Ho attempted to explain that they never knew about the law, the cops simply reiterated, "ignorance is not an excuse."

"We were totally shocked," said Leung. As Leung says, "I’m pretty sure I won’t have to pay, because I’m Canadian. But my concern is that nobody ever explained the law to us. It’s not really our fault, but the cops didn’t listen and didn’t care". Ho has lived in Pasadena since he was six and has also never heard of the law.

Having lived in Rowland Heights for six years, and having been out after 10 p.m. without my parents countless times. I am disappointed in the police force both for their obvious racial profiling, and for their failure in educating people about this law.

Not only is it is ridiculous that citizens are held responsible for laws of which they are completely oblivious, this law has proven that racism is a prevalent and powerful force in all parts of our society, even up in the lofty levels of public servants.

For now, Ho and Leung are still reeling from their experience. Leung worries that his parents will have to fly down from Canada to appear in court with him. Dean Ann Quinley has advised the students to hire attorneys.

"I just thought it was ridiculous that college students aren’t allowed outside after 10 pm," said Lisa Park ’05, who was accompanying Ho and Leung that night. True. If these students can handle midterms, projects and extracurriculars, I’m sure they can handle being out in the dark without their mommies and daddies.