Voices from Virginia Tech
"The time has come for us to have a serious dialogue about underage drinking on college campuses across America. This is a national problem and deserves national attention…That is precisely why I signed the Amethyst Initiative--to spur a public discussion about how most effectively to decrease underage drinking, binge drinking, and drinking and driving in and around the campus community."
--- C. Steger, President of Virginia Tech
In the fall of 2010, a group of more than 100 college presidents, including the leaders of Virginia Tech, signed a contract named “The Amethyst Initiative” arguing that the legal drinking age of 21was not working. Alcohol abuse is a problem on every American campus, and Virginia Tech is no exception. A study showed that every year Virginia Tech’s judicial system handles more than 850 alcohol-related violations, whether drunk in public, drunk driving, or underage drinking. And 34% of students who went to Schiffert Health Center with injuries could attribute to alcohol. Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Spencer concerning about factors of high alcohol consumption stated, “The very nature of Virginia Tech has in it some of the environmental factors that lead to fairly high consumption rates.” Those factors, such as being a large university in a rural location with big athletics and very active Greek system, play big roles in Virginia Tech’s drinking rate of 56%, which is higher than the national average of 42%. (Young ) Charles Steger, President of VT, signed the initiative and indicated that the contract is not an endorsement of lowering the drinking age, but a mean to open up discussion that could address solutions to high alcohol consumption on college campuses.
"The time has come for us to have a serious dialogue about underage drinking on college campuses across America. This is a national problem and deserves national attention…That is precisely why I signed the Amethyst Initiative--to spur a public discussion about how most effectively to decrease underage drinking, binge drinking, and drinking and driving in and around the campus community."
--- C. Steger, President of Virginia Tech
In the fall of 2010, a group of more than 100 college presidents, including the leaders of Virginia Tech, signed a contract named “The Amethyst Initiative” arguing that the legal drinking age of 21was not working. Alcohol abuse is a problem on every American campus, and Virginia Tech is no exception. A study showed that every year Virginia Tech’s judicial system handles more than 850 alcohol-related violations, whether drunk in public, drunk driving, or underage drinking. And 34% of students who went to Schiffert Health Center with injuries could attribute to alcohol. Vice President for Student Affairs Ed Spencer concerning about factors of high alcohol consumption stated, “The very nature of Virginia Tech has in it some of the environmental factors that lead to fairly high consumption rates.” Those factors, such as being a large university in a rural location with big athletics and very active Greek system, play big roles in Virginia Tech’s drinking rate of 56%, which is higher than the national average of 42%. (Young ) Charles Steger, President of VT, signed the initiative and indicated that the contract is not an endorsement of lowering the drinking age, but a mean to open up discussion that could address solutions to high alcohol consumption on college campuses.
In regard to the debate on the 21 Minimum drinking age law, a growing number of organizations are arising. Obviously, these groups can be split up into two different groups stand at opposite positions. Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is one of organizations that influence most in supporting the 21 drinking age law. Other groups in support of the 21 drinking age law include the Governors Highway Safety (GHSA), the American Medical Association (AMA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and so on. In contrast, some organizations support lowering the drinking age. Groups holding this perception include National Youth Rights Association (NYRA), Choose Responsibility (CR), and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), etc.
MADD
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a nonprofit organization in the US that aims to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. This organization was founded on September 5th, 1980 in California; the mission of MADD is “to aid the victims of crimes performed by individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to aid the families of such victims and to increase public awareness of the problem of drinking and drugged driving.” (“Mission statement”) MADD founded by Candice Lightner who is a mother whose 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Their strategies aim at alcohol related problems, such as drunk driving, and underage drinking. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving has an effective influence on changing the nation’s attitude on drunk driving, which result in a huge decrease in drunk driving deaths by 20% in 1997. Another MADD’s goal is to protect young people from negative impact of underage drinking. 27,000 lives have been saved through public health laws. “In 2010, 26.3 percent of 12 to 20 year olds had a drink in the previous month, down over five percent from the year before,” (Goals and stategies)
CR
Choose Responsibility is another non-profit organization in the United States. It is a kind of organization founded to “stimulate informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture”, (“Choose responsibility”) and assist young people aged 18 to 20 to make mature decisions about alcohol using. It is not only aiming at young adults, it’s founded also for parents to help affirm and implement parental role as children become adults. So, the main goal is to lower the drinking age which is holding the opposite opinion to MADD. CR introduces some myths about drinking age and drinking. For instance, it is said that “drinking before age 21 will cause you to lose 10% of your brain power.” However, the reality is that the conclusion made by many neuroscientists is oversimplified because their research all performed on laboratory rats, which demonstrates the relation between alcohol abuse and brain development. It is not involved in brainpower.
NYRA
The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) is the largest nation’s premier youth rights organization. It is a youth-led national non-profit organization fighting for the civil rights and liberties of young people. So, NYRA strongly supports lowering the drinking age. It rejected the “fact” that raising the drinking age saved 20,000 lives with the reason that raising the drinking age merely transferred lost lives from the group aged 18-20 to the group aged 21-24. The problem with the 20,000 lives saved statistic is only at deaths for people aged 18-24. NYRA concludes that raising the drinking age has not done its job, so it is better to find other solutions dealing with drinking problem. The following video is about NYRA debates the 21 drinking age makes alcohol “forbidden fruit”.
MADD
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a nonprofit organization in the US that aims to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. This organization was founded on September 5th, 1980 in California; the mission of MADD is “to aid the victims of crimes performed by individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to aid the families of such victims and to increase public awareness of the problem of drinking and drugged driving.” (“Mission statement”) MADD founded by Candice Lightner who is a mother whose 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Their strategies aim at alcohol related problems, such as drunk driving, and underage drinking. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving has an effective influence on changing the nation’s attitude on drunk driving, which result in a huge decrease in drunk driving deaths by 20% in 1997. Another MADD’s goal is to protect young people from negative impact of underage drinking. 27,000 lives have been saved through public health laws. “In 2010, 26.3 percent of 12 to 20 year olds had a drink in the previous month, down over five percent from the year before,” (Goals and stategies)
CR
Choose Responsibility is another non-profit organization in the United States. It is a kind of organization founded to “stimulate informed and dispassionate public discussion about the presence of alcohol in American culture”, (“Choose responsibility”) and assist young people aged 18 to 20 to make mature decisions about alcohol using. It is not only aiming at young adults, it’s founded also for parents to help affirm and implement parental role as children become adults. So, the main goal is to lower the drinking age which is holding the opposite opinion to MADD. CR introduces some myths about drinking age and drinking. For instance, it is said that “drinking before age 21 will cause you to lose 10% of your brain power.” However, the reality is that the conclusion made by many neuroscientists is oversimplified because their research all performed on laboratory rats, which demonstrates the relation between alcohol abuse and brain development. It is not involved in brainpower.
NYRA
The National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) is the largest nation’s premier youth rights organization. It is a youth-led national non-profit organization fighting for the civil rights and liberties of young people. So, NYRA strongly supports lowering the drinking age. It rejected the “fact” that raising the drinking age saved 20,000 lives with the reason that raising the drinking age merely transferred lost lives from the group aged 18-20 to the group aged 21-24. The problem with the 20,000 lives saved statistic is only at deaths for people aged 18-24. NYRA concludes that raising the drinking age has not done its job, so it is better to find other solutions dealing with drinking problem. The following video is about NYRA debates the 21 drinking age makes alcohol “forbidden fruit”.