The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: Editorial

The Amethyst Initiative has shaken and stirred a serious national debate about the 21+ alcohol policy’s effects on the lives of young people since the Vietnam era. We think that’s a discussion worth having, but merely opening the taps is not enough.

Backed by 130 college presidents and chancellors from across America—including Emerson’s President Jacqueline Liebergott—the plan seeks to launch an overhaul of the under-21 prohibition. It’s a commendable display of respect from heads of colleges for their charges.

While President Liebergott’s involvement with the initiative  seconded by many Emerson students, responsibility can’t be legislated, or appear overnight. Lowering the drinking age may be popular among college coeds, but more needs to be done in order to make a transition in drinking-age legislation go over smoothly.

Letting 18-year-olds into the club would be unprecedented but for the repeal of prohibition in 1933, and doing so without promoting awareness about alcohol abuse would be grossly irresponsible.

 Imagine everyone in the Little Building and Piano Row, and across campuses all over the city and country, turning 21 all at once. It’d be a great party, but our dormitories and the city would turn into a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah.

Indeed, a major concern shared by critics of the Amethyst Initiative—Mothers Against Drunk Driving chief among them—is that lowering the drinking age will result in an increase in binge-drinking, as well as a rise in alcohol-related injuries and fatalities, mostly due to higher rates of drunk driving. Such groups’ unease is backed by myriad studies and research, such as a publication by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis stating that the minimum drinking age law saved 890 lives nationwide in 2006. A statement released by MADD on Aug. 19 argues the “discussion [of lowering the drinking age] must honor the science behind the 21 law, which unequivocally shows that the 21 law has reduced drunk driving and underage and binge drinking.”

These concerns would need to be addressed in any revision of the drinking code, but Amethyst can be part of the solution. The initiative’s founder, Dr. John McCardell, Jr., is president emeritus of Middlebury College in Vermont and directs Choose Responsibility, an organization dedicated to educating adolescents about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption. McCardell should incorporate Choose Responsibility’s methods, including creating a “driver’s ed” program for drinkers, into Amethyst.

Critics also contend college presidents are passing the alcohol-education buck to high schools. That’s as it should be. High schools are far better equipped to provide comprehensive alcohol awareness education through health classes, after-school programs and, most importantly, government money. It’s a gross understatement to say colleges have so far proven ill-equipped and incapable of stemming the deluge of booze to campus. High school, anyway, is when the average American teenager starts drinking (age 15.9, according to the U.S. Department of Health). It makes far more sense to educate the nation’s youth about the responsibilities that come with drinking at such an age. Proponents of lowering the drinking age often point to the fact that many European countries get away with regulating drinking ages as young as 16 (or whenver you can see above the bar) by familiarizing younger generations with alcohol early on.

Before everyone gets ahead of themselves, it’s important to keep in mind who’s likely to be footing the bill: liquor producers, and by extention, their customers. Increased taxes are the most realistic source of funding for these new programs.

President Liebergott’s decision to back the Amethyst Initiative reflects a degree of respect for the Emerson student body, and, so long as it includes safeguards against irrationally exuberant boozing, it’s good policy for our college and others, too.
Cheers to that.

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