College Times

Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Photos.com

What if incoming freshmen could celebrate with their junior and senior cohorts by legally slugging back a few brewskies and hitting up some bars to do body shots off of random people?

If the Amethyst Initiative succeeds, they group with ruffle enough feathers to get people to seriously start considering lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 years of age.

The presidents of 100 of the nation's well-known universities, including Duke, Ohio State and Colgate, are asking lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age to 18, saying "current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus."

The group instigated the movement over a year ago by discreetly recruiting presidents to encourage national debate about the drinking age.

Grace Kronenberg, assistant to the director of Amethyst Initiative, said that what the group is trying to do is look at what the best thing is for the drinking youth of today.

"We do not advocate lowering the drinking age to 18, but instead we support informed and open debate on whether or not 21 is the best policy," she said.

Other major school leaders involved in the group include Syracuse, Tufts and Dartmouth. Georgia's Morehouse, which initially considered the idea, has since revoked support.

This is just phase one of the group's efforts; the presidents have not even begun taking on the public sphere yet. This may include publishing newspaper ads in the near future, however Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other public interest groups already have leveled criticism.

MADD's website advocates for stricter enforcement the current legal drinking age and researching and educating more young people about the pressure to drink alcohol, starting as early as fourth grade.

MADD also argues that lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. It says that if the presidents were to encourage debate about the drinking age enough to actually make the change, it would be "misrepresenting science and looking for an easy way out of an inconvenient problem."

Kronenberg chose not to comment on MADD's point of view and simply said that "21 is not working."

Amethyst Initiative's website said that the presidents are concerned with a culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking, often conducted off-campus, that has developed over the years.

It also said that adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.

This is something that Arizona State University student Hayden Rowe agrees with.

"If you can go into the army and own a gun you should be able to drink a beer. The country considers you as an adult at 18 and holds you accountable for your actions, so you should be able to drink if you want to."

Tanner Tyrrell, a junior at ASU studying communications, said that he wouldn't oppose it, but he's not really for it either.

"I think there would be more accidents and more drunk driving as a result," he said. "People have to show they can be responsible, regardless of their age."

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