Partying gone wrong

[scottcomstock]

http://www.clarksonintegrator.com/news/2004/08/30/News/Police.Visit.Tke.26.Charges.Filed-706076.shtml

Someone should tell TKE why Theta Chi hasn't existed at Clarkson since 1997.

[joecct]

From the 9/3/04 Integrator

It is Time For a Change
By Adam Moncure

Recent events have shown us that Clarkson has an ongoing problem with alcohol. While the problems that the Greek organizations are having certainly is responsible for bringing more attention to it, the problem extends far beyond the Greeks. What purpose does alcohol serve on a university campus? Why does the university need to continue its support for drinking? Just because those on campus over the age of 21 are legally permitted to drink does not mean the University has to have a bar to serve them, or even permit them to drink on campus.
All having a bar on campus does is promote a drinking atmosphere at Clarkson. Drinking is a big activity at Clarkson but why must it be? There are lots of activities that students can participate in, and there would be even more if so many students did not spend all of their time drinking.
It certainly does not look good when there are weekly busts of underage Clarkson students for drinking. It looks even worse when Clarkson students face charges for unlawful dealing with a minor. Now entire Greek organizations are getting busted.
It is time for Clarkson to reconsider its position on alcohol. As I see it the University has two reasons for not eliminating alcohol on campus. The first reason put forward is that drinking by students over 21 is legal and therefore the university should not interfere. While there is no legal need for the University to interfere, there is also no prohibition stopping Clarkson from setting more restrictive rules than the state. The other reason I have heard members of the administration use is that its better for students to be drinking on campus than 'off in the woods'. While there are risks that would arise from underground drinking, those risks hardly warrant allowing students to drink.
On the other hand there are many downsides to allowing students to drink on campus. While the University certainly does not support underage drinking, easily available alcohol on campus defiantly lends itself to it. It seems to be a weekly occurrence for a Clarkson student to be taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. Are we going to wait for someone to end up dead before dealing with the problem? It would also be quite a stretch to say drinking somehow improves academic performance.
Clarkson needs to change its atmosphere to reflect the reason we are all here. That Clarkson still has a bar on campus seems like a legacy of the past not a step into the future. We are here to learn, not to get drunk. I say the first step in moving the university towards a more scholarly atmosphere is for Clarkson to become a dry campus. Students will still drink and there will still be those who get into legal trouble, but at least the university will have clean hands in the matter. The University should tell incoming freshmen that they should not drink because it is a bad thing to do, not just point to the law and say it is illegal for them to drink. Clarkson has already taken the first step in eliminating smoking from the dorms, now it is time for the next step.