Lowering the Bar
Aditya Bindal and Laura Sucheski
Last Updated: 9/2/08 Section: Campus
Many will remember the highlights of the past year at Claremont McKenna College, with record donations from alumni, celebrity speakers, and an ambitious fundraising campaign coming to mind. But for some, their most vivid memory will be of a trip to the local hospital after drinking excessively. The sight of red fire trucks and hospital vans around the Claremont Colleges became uncharacteristically familiar to 5C students.
Spotting this worrisome pattern, Dean of Students Jeff Huang temporarily canceled all weekly parties and 5C events toward the end of last semester. The natural reaction after such incidents called for a stricter alcohol policy: more security, more rules, and more enforcement. Such a response wasn't limited to CMC. Colleges across the nation explored new tactics to tighten their rules.
According to a new study, published in the Journal of American College Health, binge drinking on college campuses has increased over the past decade. The study states: "[A]mong college students, a decade's worth of research in the College Alcohol Study found both the proportion of students abstaining and the proportion of students engaging in frequent binge drinking had increased. Furthermore, as compared to 1993, more 18-24 year old students who chose to drink in 2001 were drinking excessively - defined by frequency of drinking occasions, frequency of drunkenness, and drinking to get drunk."
Pomona College President David Oxtoby and 129 other college presidents blame the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act for campus binge drinking. The federal law imposes a 10 percent penalty on a state's federal highway appropriation if the state's drinking age is lower than 21. These higher education leaders have signed the Amethyst Initiative, an organization that says it is time to "rethink the drinking age."
According to the Amethyst Initiative's website, President Oxtoby signed the statement because "it will allow our colleges to engage in real education of our students about responsible use of alcohol, as well as moderate behavior. At present we are constrained only to talk about abstinence, since anything else is against the law. Treating college students as adults will help them to make more responsible decisions."
In a guest column for USA Today, President Oxtoby made the case that drinking age laws increase binge drinking. "They force college-age drinking out of the open, where it can be monitored and moderated, behind closed doors, where young people can put themselves and others at even greater risk. Recent years have shown a significant increase in binge drinking, leading to alcohol poisoning and causing hundreds of deaths per year."
Per current state law, Pomona College allows alcohol to be served at parties, but IDs are checked to ensure only legal consumption. But Pomona's policy does not stop at state requirements. In an email interview with the CI, Pomona College Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum explained how Pomona College's policies go beyond state law: "Pomona does not allow hard alcohol on south campus regardless of your age; we do not allow kegs in residence halls regardless of your age, etc."
The current policy also affects students above the legal drinking age. According to Dean Feldblum, "a student who is 21 or older and wants to host a private registered party can do so after participating in the College's host safety training program."
Pomona College is the only 5C school to sign on to the initiative. Claremont McKenna College's President Pamela Gann abstained from the statement, and explained the circumstances in an email interview with the CI. "In the summer, there was no opportunity to have any discussion with our constituents about this Initiative," she said. "Although colleges and universities are impacted by the current laws pertaining to the legal drinking age, this is a public policy issues that goes way beyond the college and university campus…it is important to keep this broader context in mind when considering the issue."
President Gann's decision wisely defers from using CMC's name in a political issue without the consent of many of its constituent groups, including students, faculty, and the Board of Trustees.
It is interesting to compare alcohol policies on respective campuses to actual laws. The universal drinking age restricts the purchase and possession of alcohol (in public places) to those 21 and over. But state laws vary after that. In California, for instance, minors are not explicitly prohibited from consuming alcohol and are permitted to possess it on private property.
While Oxtoby calls for a lower drinking age to solve binge drinking problems, he should instead take advantage of the laws in place to allow minors to learn to drink in safe, private settings. Resident Assistants at CMC prioritize safety over discipline. Students don't feel the need to binge drink in their rooms so as not to get caught and punished.
A lower drinking age makes sound public policy; however, colleges, including Pomona, can solve many of their alcohol problems within the bounds of current law by relaxing their own alcohol policies. Perhaps if Oxtoby and other college presidents followed CMC's methods, fewer students would find themselves in emergency rooms.
Aditya Bindal is a sophomore at CMC and the publisher of the CI. Laura Sucheski is a sophomore at CMC and a layout editor of the CI.
Spotting this worrisome pattern, Dean of Students Jeff Huang temporarily canceled all weekly parties and 5C events toward the end of last semester. The natural reaction after such incidents called for a stricter alcohol policy: more security, more rules, and more enforcement. Such a response wasn't limited to CMC. Colleges across the nation explored new tactics to tighten their rules.
According to a new study, published in the Journal of American College Health, binge drinking on college campuses has increased over the past decade. The study states: "[A]mong college students, a decade's worth of research in the College Alcohol Study found both the proportion of students abstaining and the proportion of students engaging in frequent binge drinking had increased. Furthermore, as compared to 1993, more 18-24 year old students who chose to drink in 2001 were drinking excessively - defined by frequency of drinking occasions, frequency of drunkenness, and drinking to get drunk."
Pomona College President David Oxtoby and 129 other college presidents blame the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act for campus binge drinking. The federal law imposes a 10 percent penalty on a state's federal highway appropriation if the state's drinking age is lower than 21. These higher education leaders have signed the Amethyst Initiative, an organization that says it is time to "rethink the drinking age."
According to the Amethyst Initiative's website, President Oxtoby signed the statement because "it will allow our colleges to engage in real education of our students about responsible use of alcohol, as well as moderate behavior. At present we are constrained only to talk about abstinence, since anything else is against the law. Treating college students as adults will help them to make more responsible decisions."
In a guest column for USA Today, President Oxtoby made the case that drinking age laws increase binge drinking. "They force college-age drinking out of the open, where it can be monitored and moderated, behind closed doors, where young people can put themselves and others at even greater risk. Recent years have shown a significant increase in binge drinking, leading to alcohol poisoning and causing hundreds of deaths per year."
Per current state law, Pomona College allows alcohol to be served at parties, but IDs are checked to ensure only legal consumption. But Pomona's policy does not stop at state requirements. In an email interview with the CI, Pomona College Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum explained how Pomona College's policies go beyond state law: "Pomona does not allow hard alcohol on south campus regardless of your age; we do not allow kegs in residence halls regardless of your age, etc."
The current policy also affects students above the legal drinking age. According to Dean Feldblum, "a student who is 21 or older and wants to host a private registered party can do so after participating in the College's host safety training program."
Pomona College is the only 5C school to sign on to the initiative. Claremont McKenna College's President Pamela Gann abstained from the statement, and explained the circumstances in an email interview with the CI. "In the summer, there was no opportunity to have any discussion with our constituents about this Initiative," she said. "Although colleges and universities are impacted by the current laws pertaining to the legal drinking age, this is a public policy issues that goes way beyond the college and university campus…it is important to keep this broader context in mind when considering the issue."
President Gann's decision wisely defers from using CMC's name in a political issue without the consent of many of its constituent groups, including students, faculty, and the Board of Trustees.
It is interesting to compare alcohol policies on respective campuses to actual laws. The universal drinking age restricts the purchase and possession of alcohol (in public places) to those 21 and over. But state laws vary after that. In California, for instance, minors are not explicitly prohibited from consuming alcohol and are permitted to possess it on private property.
While Oxtoby calls for a lower drinking age to solve binge drinking problems, he should instead take advantage of the laws in place to allow minors to learn to drink in safe, private settings. Resident Assistants at CMC prioritize safety over discipline. Students don't feel the need to binge drink in their rooms so as not to get caught and punished.
A lower drinking age makes sound public policy; however, colleges, including Pomona, can solve many of their alcohol problems within the bounds of current law by relaxing their own alcohol policies. Perhaps if Oxtoby and other college presidents followed CMC's methods, fewer students would find themselves in emergency rooms.
Aditya Bindal is a sophomore at CMC and the publisher of the CI. Laura Sucheski is a sophomore at CMC and a layout editor of the CI.
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