Spring Break
The Daily OrangeCantor supports national debate on lower drinking age
By Megan Saucke
Posted: 8/26/08, 12:36 AM EST Section: News
The current legal drinking age is not working, according to a statement signed by Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor this summer. She and 127 other higher education leaders joined the Amethyst Initiative, a group calling on the government to rethink the law.
Former Middlebury College President John McCardell created the Amethyst Initiative in July. Its mission statement, released Aug. 19, states that "21 is not working."
Cantor stressed that she joined in order to support dialogue about whether or not to lower the drinking age - which has been in effect since 1984 - and said she does not necessarily support lowering it. She wants to see where the discussions will lead.
"The idea is really to get people across the country talking about how we think about the culture of alcohol," Cantor said. "We need to get it all on the table and see if there's a menu of options that would change things."
The statement released by the group urges government officials to reconsider the federal punishment of highway funding cuts for any state that doesn't follow the national drinking age. Currently, states can legally set their own drinking ages, but rejecting the national age results in a 10 percent cut of federal highway funding.
"By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law," the statement reads. It also states that abstinence-only alcohol education "has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students."
Cantor said the energy SU spends on preventing underage drinking and punishing the lawbreakers would be better focused elsewhere.
"It's time that institutions of higher education be able to really spend time on the education programs, not on policing programs," Cantor said. "That's really I think the key issue here."
Local pub owner Jerry Dellas had no objections to the initiative.
"It doesn't bother me that they're thinking of lowering the age," said Dellas, co-owner of Faegan's Cafe & Pub on Crouse Avenue. "I kind of agree with it, and it's not just because I own a restaurant with a license. I kind of believe at 19 when you go off to college, you should be educated enough to know the rights and wrongs from drinking alcohol."
Former Middlebury College President John McCardell created the Amethyst Initiative in July. Its mission statement, released Aug. 19, states that "21 is not working."
Cantor stressed that she joined in order to support dialogue about whether or not to lower the drinking age - which has been in effect since 1984 - and said she does not necessarily support lowering it. She wants to see where the discussions will lead.
"The idea is really to get people across the country talking about how we think about the culture of alcohol," Cantor said. "We need to get it all on the table and see if there's a menu of options that would change things."
The statement released by the group urges government officials to reconsider the federal punishment of highway funding cuts for any state that doesn't follow the national drinking age. Currently, states can legally set their own drinking ages, but rejecting the national age results in a 10 percent cut of federal highway funding.
"By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law," the statement reads. It also states that abstinence-only alcohol education "has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students."
Cantor said the energy SU spends on preventing underage drinking and punishing the lawbreakers would be better focused elsewhere.
"It's time that institutions of higher education be able to really spend time on the education programs, not on policing programs," Cantor said. "That's really I think the key issue here."
Local pub owner Jerry Dellas had no objections to the initiative.
"It doesn't bother me that they're thinking of lowering the age," said Dellas, co-owner of Faegan's Cafe & Pub on Crouse Avenue. "I kind of agree with it, and it's not just because I own a restaurant with a license. I kind of believe at 19 when you go off to college, you should be educated enough to know the rights and wrongs from drinking alcohol."
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