(for the record, I'm 25, and I didn't drink before I was 21).
I've bolded what I found to be the most amusing part of this article.
What do you guys think? Let's have a poll.
Area college leaders refuse to sign drinking petition
Susanne Nadeau Grand Forks Herald
Published Saturday, August 23, 2008
More than 100 university presidents and chancellors said this week they wanted to start a national debate about lowering the drinking age to 18 — but the heads of area universities are not among them.
UND President Robert Kelley, University of Minnesota-Crookston Chancellor Charles H. Casey and Mayville (N.D.) State University President Gary Hagen all said they were asked to sign a petition seeking public discussion of the issue but refused.
“Without research, I fail to see how making alcohol available to younger people is a good idea,” Hagen said. “I’m not convinced there’s research that validates a movement toward that. And I don’t think we should be making rules that would put alcohol in young people’s hands easier, especially without knowing all the facts.”
The heads of Lake Region Community College in Devils Lake and Northland Community and Technical College, with campuses in East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls, were not among the signers either, though it’s not clear if they were asked.
Lake Region’s president Mike Bower declined to comment and Northland president Ann Temte did not return request for comment.
The stated goal of the Amethyst Initiative, the organization pushing the petition, is not to lower the drinking age but to start the dialogue about doing so. The signers of the petition proclaimed that “21 is not working.”
Instead, it said, “a culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge-drinking’ — often conducted off campus — has developed.”
National studies in recent years rank North Dakota high on the list of states with high frequency of binge and underage drinking. Grand Forks has been in the top 10 in the nation in similar studies.
More restrictions
When Hagen got a letter from the Amethyst Initiative a month ago asking for his signature, his immediate response was one of disbelief.
“I’m not convinced at all that this is a solution,” he said, acknowledging North Dakota’s binge drinking reputation. “It’s a very difficult problem; it’s so deeply seated and has been going on for such a long time. I think most families have been touched in some way with alcohol abuse, and it can be a very serious problem.”
The way to combat the problem is not to make alcohol more available, he said, but to limit access even further.
“I think there are better options,” he said. “More increased penalties for illegal providers. We should have increased funding for law enforcement programs. Education programs starting with younger children — the quicker you can indoctrinate people, have a program that enforces good messages in lives, the more beneficial.”
The state has favored restrictions, as well. Lawmakers, for example, have banned the so-called “power hour,” the hour after midnight when some who had just turned 21 would drink as much as they could.
Where’s the data?
UND spokesman Peter Johnson, speaking for Kelley, said the Amethyst Initiative has not provided any data that would convince UND there’s a reason to lower the drinking age.
“We would be very curious to see what kind of research there would be that would suggest it would be a good thing,” he said. “What’s the argument being made? How’s (lowering the drinking age) going to decrease binge drinking? We’re just not seeing any good data that this is a positive move in any way, shape or form.”
The big issue, he said, is maturity. “It’s pretty tough to say a person at 18 would have the same level of maturity as someone the age of 21.”
UND’s campus is mostly dry, with the exception of private businesses and groups, such as Ralph Englestad Arena and the Suite 49 restaurant and bar.
Still, Johnson said, UND is interested in the outcome of any debate. “We will certainly tune into it, pay attention to the discussion.”
Though Casey, the UMC chancellor, didn’t sign the petition, he indicated mixed feelings.
“I just don’t know,” Casey said. “What we’re at right now, we follow the law. The law is 21, and that’s what people have to follow. That’s what establishments have to follow.”
“Obviously, drinking on campus is an issue, and we do a lot of prevention education on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, trying to raise awareness of some of the consequences,” Casey said. “I think most campuses have been doing that regularly for a number of years. We’re going to continue doing that.”
Binge and underage drinking on his campus, though, are fairly low, he said.
Similar to Johnson’s position, Casey said he’s open to hearing more.
“If it’s about the debate, let’s see if it’s got some merit,” he said. “I think that’s part of what universities and colleges do. They generate some of these discussions.”
“It will be interesting to see what our student representatives have to say,” he said.
Casey would not be the one to get involved, though, he said, because it would come down through the University of Minnesota system.
Online: For more info on the Amethyst Initiative, log on to www.amethystinitiative.org.
Reach Nadeau at (701) 780-1118; (800) 477-6572, ext. 118; or send e-mail to [email protected].
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=84890§ion=NewsI agree with the University Presidents who are in support of this discussion. This is not a problem with laws, or with kids breaking the laws, it's a problem with education and personal responsibility. I'm not talking about getting it banged into your head at a young age that alcohol is the devil's drink; I mean that if parents were actually parents and were responsible for teaching their children about alcohol, being able to allow them a glass of wine or a beer at dinner when in high school, and could show by example what was acceptable in society, then I think we would have a lot fewer problems. This is a cultural issue, not a legal one. For example, parents will lecture their kids on the dangers of drinking, drinking and driving, and threaten them, etc., but then will go out and get shitfaced at the lake, or on the weekend, or at the bar. This is definitely a mixed message, and I think we can give kids a little more credit than telling them they aren't old enough to handle things.
Take the Olympics, for example, or any elite competitive event (chess, video games, academics). There are 16-year-olds competing who know how to discipline themselves, who are old enough to create their own schedules in order to train, and who are probably a great deal more mature than some of the people who are graduating from college. They are stressing their bodies (or their minds) to the limit in order to win. Part of this is probably natural talent, but I imagine a lot of it comes from having guidance from a young age about how to think and make decisions. This isn't the best simile, but hopefully you can see where I'm going. If we were to ban our athletes from competing in Olympic swimming until they were 21, just because some high schoolers died in a cliff-jumping accident, it wouldn't make sense, but it would be the same case as with alcohol: your kid is going to swim regardless of whether you as a parent say it's okay, so why not go with them to the river and point out the dangers in cliff-jumping?
A drinking age of 21 removes a responsibility from parents who should be responsible for the upbringing of their offspring. Furthermore, banning alcohol on college campuses just drives drinking underground, and potentially reduces the chance that someone will call 911 if someone gets alcohol poisoning. I've seen people get trashed before going to the bar, absolutely wasted, not because it's cheaper to drink at home, but because they're under 21 and they need to drink enough "to get through the night."
Removing the drinking age isn't the only solution, I'm sure there are others, and I'd love to hear them. We could legalize possession of alcohol but keep purchase of hard alcohol limited to 21+, or keep bars limited to 19+. I've thought for a while that the problems inherent in a 21+ drinking age needed to be solved, and I'm glad that it's University officials who are leading this movement.
Poll
Topic: Alright, let's talk about this drinking age thing (Read 9796 times)
