Nowhere is this trend more apparent than at MIT. In addition to the settlement, the school took back the bachelor's degree of the graduate who provided Krueger with the alcohol. Now, students say, the row of MIT-affiliated fraternities lining the Charles River resembles a police state.

"Now, it's a lot more underground," said Alt. "Most small parties, you won't get bothered, but if it's noisy at all, it'll probably get broken up."

MIT first-year Bob Yin went further, describing the drinking situation at his school as "nonexistent...MIT was known for more drinking, and it got a lot of notoriety with the Scott Krueger incident," he adds. "But they were sued for millions, and that made them crack down. Now at every party, campus police stand at the door."

City On Patrol

And when the campus police are not enough, the city police are eager to contribute in Allston and Brighton, home of BC and part of BU. On Friday and Saturday nights, the district has four extra "party cars" on duty, two of which are paid for by BC.

BC administrators like Mills ride alongside the cops, ready to impose school sanctions on top of the court date. The arrests are frequent and the penalties can be severe, say Mills and John Kervin.

One of the primary aspects of the crackdown has been a greater emphasis on holding underage purchasers legally accountable for attempting to buy alcohol, instead of focusing exclusively on sellers.

"The city has changed its policy," said Martin J. Connealy, manager of the Harvard Provision Co. liquor store. "Up until now, it was always our responsibility. Now, they're putting more emphasis on making minors suffer."