Presidents toast to lower drinking age; U. Toledo administrators unconvinced
by David Hochanadel | The Independent Collegian (University of Toledo)
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: News
(U-WIRE) — Twenty-one isn't working, say university presidents across the nation.
But while some are raising their glasses to the possibility of lowering the drinking age to 18, University of Toledo administrators said they are not convinced.
The Amethyst Initiative, a source of national media buzz over the past several weeks, was launched in July and signed by 130 presidents and chancellors of higher education across the nation who say they want to start a discussion about lowering the drinking age back to 18 to reduce alcohol abuse in college.
The signatories include leaders of Duke University, Dartmouth College, Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University and The Ohio State University.
While UT President Lloyd Jacobs said he could be swayed if given convincing data that this would reduce alcohol abuse, he is not among the signing presidents. He added that he suspects the signatories' real motives might not merely be to start a conversation but indeed to actually lower the age.
Thinking back to his undergraduate days at Miami University when the drinking age was only 18, Jacobs said his college peers would head into town and drink responsibly.
"Sophomores, juniors and seniors would go to Oxford, [Ohio] on the weekend and drink 3.2 percent beer and drink and enjoy it," he said. "You couldn't have a car at Miami, so they'd walk back. It was a safe environment."
But he said he's not sure whether the same would happen if, decades later, the drinking age was moved back to 18, especially since the alcohol concentration in beverages is higher now.
He also said he's not sure whether statistics from other nations is relevant to the U.S.
"There's data that says there's less binge drinking in other countries where the drinking age is lower, but there's no assurance that data will transfer over to our nation," he said.
Jacobs, like many critics, characterized the movement as potentially being an act of desperation by university professors who are looking for a way to solve the age-old drinking problems on their campuses.
But while some are raising their glasses to the possibility of lowering the drinking age to 18, University of Toledo administrators said they are not convinced.
The Amethyst Initiative, a source of national media buzz over the past several weeks, was launched in July and signed by 130 presidents and chancellors of higher education across the nation who say they want to start a discussion about lowering the drinking age back to 18 to reduce alcohol abuse in college.
The signatories include leaders of Duke University, Dartmouth College, Syracuse University, Johns Hopkins University and The Ohio State University.
While UT President Lloyd Jacobs said he could be swayed if given convincing data that this would reduce alcohol abuse, he is not among the signing presidents. He added that he suspects the signatories' real motives might not merely be to start a conversation but indeed to actually lower the age.
Thinking back to his undergraduate days at Miami University when the drinking age was only 18, Jacobs said his college peers would head into town and drink responsibly.
"Sophomores, juniors and seniors would go to Oxford, [Ohio] on the weekend and drink 3.2 percent beer and drink and enjoy it," he said. "You couldn't have a car at Miami, so they'd walk back. It was a safe environment."
But he said he's not sure whether the same would happen if, decades later, the drinking age was moved back to 18, especially since the alcohol concentration in beverages is higher now.
He also said he's not sure whether statistics from other nations is relevant to the U.S.
"There's data that says there's less binge drinking in other countries where the drinking age is lower, but there's no assurance that data will transfer over to our nation," he said.
Jacobs, like many critics, characterized the movement as potentially being an act of desperation by university professors who are looking for a way to solve the age-old drinking problems on their campuses.
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