Spring Break
Lowering the drinking age a modest proposal
Courtney Carignan
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Commentary
These days it seems that 18 is the new 21, as over 100 presidents of universities across the nation have agreed. A campaign called the "Amethyst Initiative" has been in the works for the past year in order to open up a discussion for lowering the legal drinking age. The former president of Middlebury College, John McCardell, launched this initiative to reexamine our laws and it has gained support from such prestigious schools as Dartmouth College, Duke, and Tufts, among others.
Congress, however, does not share this desire to open this topic up for conversation. In 1984, Congress stated that any state that lowered its drinking age below 21 would be penalized 10 percent of its federal highway appropriation as a means to keep the drinking age at 21.
Many people, including underage students who drink, argue that underage drinking happens regardless of the legality. However, many others believe that lowering the drinking age will simply be giving in and enabling today's youth. Organizations such as M.A.D.D. are already frowning upon the institutions that, assuming the current laws will not be enforced, have shown their support for the Amethyst Initiative.
President Hogan did not sign the Amethyst Initiative. According to Lisa Troyer, Hogan's chief of staff, he examined the proposition very carefully and considered the issue of binge drinking among college students - not only at UConn but at campuses all across the country. The fault Hogan found with the initiative is that, despite its encouragement for open discussion, he found that it prematurely suggests a solution - lower the drinking age. Troyer expressed that there was a lack of scientific evidence indicating that this will result in a safer environment for students and a better overall outcome for universities.
While this is a valid argument, a lot has changed concerning the ways that students are being educated in the dangers of drunk driving and alcohol consumption. It is not always an issue of statistics and studies revolving the legal drinking age, but a question of at what point students have enough information to make informed decisions and are considered mature enough to have this privilege.
Congress, however, does not share this desire to open this topic up for conversation. In 1984, Congress stated that any state that lowered its drinking age below 21 would be penalized 10 percent of its federal highway appropriation as a means to keep the drinking age at 21.
Many people, including underage students who drink, argue that underage drinking happens regardless of the legality. However, many others believe that lowering the drinking age will simply be giving in and enabling today's youth. Organizations such as M.A.D.D. are already frowning upon the institutions that, assuming the current laws will not be enforced, have shown their support for the Amethyst Initiative.
President Hogan did not sign the Amethyst Initiative. According to Lisa Troyer, Hogan's chief of staff, he examined the proposition very carefully and considered the issue of binge drinking among college students - not only at UConn but at campuses all across the country. The fault Hogan found with the initiative is that, despite its encouragement for open discussion, he found that it prematurely suggests a solution - lower the drinking age. Troyer expressed that there was a lack of scientific evidence indicating that this will result in a safer environment for students and a better overall outcome for universities.
While this is a valid argument, a lot has changed concerning the ways that students are being educated in the dangers of drunk driving and alcohol consumption. It is not always an issue of statistics and studies revolving the legal drinking age, but a question of at what point students have enough information to make informed decisions and are considered mature enough to have this privilege.
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E.B
posted 9/05/08 @ 9:10 AM EST
Sadly enough, most 18 year old college students are immature children. I have yet to meet a "mature, adult" freshman or sophomore at Uconn. The first weekend of school, driving home from campus, a group of kids in a car driving in front of me were throwing empty beer bottles out their windows driving and swerving all over the road. (Continued…)
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