Editorial

Author: [no author name found]

Safety should be main concern in alcohol advocacy

For better or for worse, alcohol has become inextricably linked with college social life, and the weekend scene at Middlebury is no exception.

Because students will continue to drink regardless of policy, it is imperative that the College and local liquor inspector focus on safety and not repression of social drinking.

Pub night at The Grille is a step in the right direction for the campus social scene because students of legal age are allowed to drink in a social yet controlled environment, while under-age students are still welcome to socialize in the same space. Town venders need not fear the school's newest Middlebury College Activities Board-funded Thursday night tradition, however. Beer is offered in sufficiently limited quantities so that legal-aged students who grab a beer at Pub Night are in fact more likely to drop a few dollars at Two Brothers' or Angela's following Pub Night's 10:30 p.m. closing time.

Though the new liquor inspector cannot be faulted for doing his job, the guest list party stipulation currently placed on social houses has had severely detrimental effects in attempting to control underage drinking. While underage students who do not end up on guest lists for registered parties would ideally turn to alcohol-free activities such as Free Friday Films or commons-sponsored events, the alternatives are actually far more threatening. Students are more likely to stay in their dorms, privately drinking larger quantities of alcohol than they would at larger parties, or to seek a social life off campus. As driving becomes more dangerous with the onset of winter, all efforts should be made to keep students on campus or to provide safe and reliable transportation to off-campus parties.

Organizing a student-run safe ride program would be a way for the Student Government Association to take a stand for safety and responsibility.

The impetus for drastically restructuring the social scene on campus, however, ultimately needs support from College, local and national officials.

The 21-plus drinking age creates an awkward and frankly unrealistic division on campus between legal and non-legal drinkers.

Since the drinking age in Vermont did not return to 21 until 1987, The Middlebury Campus occasionally receives letters from alumni reminiscing of a time when the College enjoyed a more relaxed alcohol atmosphere, when students even occasionally joined their professors at the bar for a casual beer.

As President Emeritus John M. McCardell, Jr., has repeatedly pointed out, an over-18 drinking age would allow colleges to control drinking and more directly educate their students about the dangers and responsibilities of consuming alcohol.

While there are probably few college students in the country that would not be overjoyed to see a national return to an 18-and-up alcohol allowance, Middlebury College is unique in that its current situation is ideal for some serious alcohol-policy revision advocacy. The emphasis placed on the serious legal repercussions of under-age drinking with the arrival of the new state liquor inspector on campus has peaked outrage at the situation, and McCardell's research on the effects of a lowered drinking age has drawn national media attention. The time to take a stand is now.