The Daily Orange

Posted: 4/26/07, 10:26 PM EST Section: News

Media Credit: Joey Baker

One of the biggest concerns leading up to Tuesday's Mayfest was that an off-campus block party would force police to shut down out-of-control parties at which alcohol was served - to minors especially.

But Mayfest came and went with no major arrests and no real problems. Fears of underage drinking leading to ruckus were left unsubstantiated but raised the question of whether drinking would be a concern if the legal age were 18 and not 21.

One of the leaders in the movement to change the legal drinking age from 21 back to 18 is President Emeritus of Middlebury College John M. McCardell. In January, McCardell originated Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit group seeking to start a grass-roots movement to change the drinking-age law.

"Our goal as an organization is really to reopen the debate about the 21-year-old drinking age," said Grace Kronenberg, assistant to McCardell and staff member of Choose Responsibility.

McCardell could not be reached for comment. McCardell was the president at Middlebury College for 13 years; before that he was a professor at the college. In 1987, when the drinking age changed in Vermont - where Middlebury is located - there was an alarming change in the way students at his school were choosing to drink.

"He saw bars downtown close up, go out of business. He saw a movement of social life, both involving alcohol and not involving alcohol, move away from sort of inter-generational interaction between faculty and students to dorms, and to off-campus houses," Kronenberg said.

When McCardell stepped down as president in 2004, he wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times attacking the 21-year-old drinking age, referring to it as terrible social policy and citing it as a cause for the negative consequences of binge drinking.

After the op-ed piece, McCardell wrote a proposal paper that argued for an 18-year-old drinking age. From that proposal came Choose Responsibility, Kronenberg said.

Many students at SU agree with McCardell's ideology and say they feel that many of the problems surrounding drinking on campus stem from the fact that the legal age is 21 and not 18.

"You have more problems with drinking because it's age 21," said Jenna Hanchard, sophomore history major. "There are many other countries around the world that have lower drinking ages that don't have the same sorts of problems that the United States has with drinking, such as drunk driving."

Even some faculty, like Timothy Barr, wine and beer appreciation instructor at SU, agreed that a 21-year-old drinking age is a wrong decision.

"When I was a young person the drinking age was 18," Barr said. "We drank, but we didn't drink to the excess people do today."

Multiple students interviewed, who did not want to be identified, agreed that the drinking age is too high. At 18 years old, an individual becomes a legal adult, and with that comes adult responsibilities such as registering for a draft. But the ability to legally drink is still denied.

"If our young people can go and fight at 18, they ought to be able to drink at 18," Barr said. "It seems kind of silly to hold (drinking) off for so long, and then it becomes a big deal - and it's not a big deal."

The possibility of lowering the drinking age to 18, which was raised by students, Barr and Choose Responsibility, will have great difficultly becoming a reality. And even if there is a chance for change, there are many people steadfast against seeing the law changed.

"The 21-age law is a very good solution to helping save young lives on the roadways," said Misty Moyse of Mother Against Drunk Drivers. "There's numerous research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that shows that there are nearly 900 lives a year saved by the 21 drinking-age law."

A 21-year-old drinking age has saved an estimated 24,560 lives since 1975 and an estimated 823 lives in 2005, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But the agreement on both sides of the drinking-age argument is that proper education toward drinking is important, regardless of the age.

"We disagree that lowering the drinking age would fix the problem of binge drinking on college campuses," Moyse said, "partly because we know that when properly enforced and with a responsible environment - such as proper alcohol awareness, education and enforcement - those things can make a difference and delay the onset of drinking."

Barr and Choose Responsibility also agree that the more important issue concerning drinking isn't just lowering the age to 18, but creating education for people about the risks of drinking.

"In my class, I bring a state trooper in to talk to students and tell them what happens when he meets them on the road, and give them a little education," Barr said. "For example, right now the average DWI is between $9,000 and $12,000. How many cab rides could you people from SU get from Armory Square over a four year period for nine grand?"

Choose Responsibility also stresses the creation of drinking education. According to its Web site, the purpose of the organization is to allow 18 to 20-year-olds to purchase and consume alcohol, but more importantly to combine education, certification and licensing for 18 to 20-year-olds to consume alcohol.

"Anyone who wanted to drink below the age of 21 would take an alcohol education course, which would be formatted in a similar way to a driver's ed course," Kronenberg said. "And the license that would result upon successful completion of that course would be the last step in a graduated driver licensing system."

The legislation of the drinking age being dropped back down to 18 years old is possible, but organizations like Choose Responsibility have many hurdles to clear, such as the acquirement of federal highway funds, to make it a reality.

"The Federal Government ties the receipt of highway funds to states having the drinking age 21," said Keith Bybee, SU professor of law and political science. "It used to be variability across the United States in drinking ages, different states had different drinking ages, and the federal government enforced uniformity on them."

With Choose Responsibility just starting off and many powerful organizations against the change of the legal age, it may be a while before drinking at 18 will be a feasible possibility on the SU campus, or anywhere. But if the legal drinking age is lowered, the resulting social effects are still uncertain.

"I don't know if less people would drink," said sophomore Hanchard. "I think more people would be responsible ... You would have to be responsible for your actions with that, just like with anything else."

Article Tools