My first experience with binge drinking occurred in high school when a classmate got drunk after the basketball season, lay outside, caught pneumonia and died.
My second experience came when my shipmates returned from liberty in Honolulu, were dumped on the dock and a cargo net had to be lowered to bring their soused bodies aboard, legs and arms dangling from the net as it was lowered. Most of them were 17 and 18 year olds.
When 100 college presidents from some of the nation's best known universities: Duke, Dartmouth, Ohio State, Syracuse, Kenyon, Johns Hopkins, Butler, etc. called on lawmakers to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18, I recalled these memories of years ago. Eighteen is the age of high school seniors.
The prevalence of binge drinking on college campuses is indisputably an issue of staggering proportions. Who wants to be president of an Animal House in this day and age? Why have we failed a generation in recognizing that alcohol is a drug? Do students really want to get drunk? Why? Is this a behavioral rite of passage?
Locally both Valparaiso and Purdue-Calumet have strict no-alcohol campus policies. Newly inducted V.U. President Mark Heckler is quoted saying, "Lowering the drinking age is not proven to reduce alcohol abuse so we're concerned it's not the right strategy."
The brewing industry has targeted youth by tying advertising to sports events that depict partying, happy faces and conviviality. The recent Olympics is no exception. Time magazine (July 28) announced a new caffeinated alcohol promoted as an energy drink to teenagers. Researchers describe the effect as wide-awake drunk. The drinks are sold in stores next to regular energy drinks.
An Indianapolis Star editorial reported "500,000 students a year suffer injuries related to alcohol consumption. About 1,700 students die in accidents connected to drinking. The Star thinks lowering the drinking age would make binge drinking worse."
The Christian Science Monitor thinks the college presidents must find innovative ways built on the early willingness of most youth to stay sober. Peer pressure that often comes from fraternities and sororities can promote nondrinking socializing. We don't need Animal Houses on campuses!
The benefits of sobriety in college social life are worth fighting for. Lowering the drinking age makes problems worse.
Amen until next Wednesday.
The opinions in this column are solely those of the writer. Wolf is a retired minister and lives in Valparaiso. Write to him c/o The Times, 1111 Glendale Blvd., Valparaiso, IN
