College Drinking

College campuses today bring up many controversial issues in society. For instance, on Lincoln College campus zero tolerance has been an endless dispute among students and faculty. Members of administration on other campuses are trying to either slow down the consumption of alcohol on campus or stop it all together. Whether the regulating or extinction of alcohol is or is not fair is yet unknown. Reasons that contributed to zero tolerance, actions among universities in the U.S, rules on Lincoln College campus and student opinion, and faculty perception on the zero tolerance rule will be used in order to come up with a valid conclusion to this controversial issue. Should college campuses have a zero tolerance rule?

In recent studies by U.S News and World Report, college campuses are turning off the tap. In other words banning alcohol entirely. One of the reasons for the banning of alcohol on campus is due to the outstanding reports of alcohol related incidents that have taken the lives of students. September of 97', Scott Krueger, and eighteen-year-old freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, died from alcohol poisoning while at a Phi Gamma Delta initiation event.(Reisberg, 1) The lack of action taken by MIT caused the students' parents to sue them for their irresponsibility.(Reisberg, 2) Another accident that occurred due to alcohol was to a twenty-year-old Louisiana State University student named Benjamin Wynne. Wynne had apparently died of an alcohol overdose after drinking heavily at a near by bar. It turned out that more than 10 fraternity pledges were at the bar, passed out on the floor, and the employees at the bar did nothing to stop the alcohol flow from going on. Criminal charges and a civil lawsuit were also filed against them for 87 misdemeanor counts of serving alcohol to people under twenty-one.(Haworth, 1) The importance of these incidents has contributed to the restrictions or elimination of alcohol on campus. In doing so, they not only save the lives of these students, but also eliminate the responsibility of students actions on the school.

Although the various incidents have been noticed, action must be taken to ensure the safety of students. Many universities are trying different techniques to minimize or stop the flow of alcohol on campus. At the University of Kentucky, which is now a "dry campus," drinking is not permitted in any undergraduate housing. They have also ended the selling of alcohol on campus to support their recent "dry campus" rule. The University of Wisconsin and the University of Colorado