Say Anything Blog

Area college leaders refuse to sign drinking petition
Susanne Nadeau
Grand Forks Herald

More than 100 university presidents and chancellors said this week they wanted to start a national debate about lowering the drinking age to 18 — but the heads of area universities are not among them.

UND President Robert Kelley, University of Minnesota-Crookston Chancellor Charles H. Casey and Mayville (N.D.) State University President Gary Hagen all said they were asked to sign a petition seeking public discussion of the issue but refused.

“Without research, I fail to see how making alcohol available to younger people is a good idea,” Hagen said. “I’m not convinced there’s research that validates a movement toward that. And I don’t think we should be making rules that would put alcohol in young people’s hands easier, especially without knowing all the facts.”

The heads of Lake Region Community College in Devils Lake and Northland Community and Technical College, with campuses in East Grand Forks and Thief River Falls, were not among the signers either, though it’s not clear if they were asked.

Lake Region’s president Mike Bower declined to comment and Northland president Ann Temte did not return request for comment.

The stated goal of the Amethyst Initiative, the organization pushing the petition, is not to lower the drinking age but to start the dialogue about doing so. The signers of the petition proclaimed that “21 is not working.”

Instead, it said, “a culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge-drinking’ — often conducted off campus — has developed.”

National studies in recent years rank North Dakota high on the list of states with high frequency of binge and underage drinking. Grand Forks has been in the top 10 in the nation in similar studies.

More restrictions

When Hagen got a letter from the Amethyst Initiative a month ago asking for his signature, his immediate response was one of disbelief.

“I’m not convinced at all that this is a solution,” he said, acknowledging North Dakota’s binge drinking reputation. “It’s a very difficult problem; it’s so deeply seated and has been going on for such a long time. I think most families have been touched in some way with alcohol abuse, and it can be a very serious problem.”

The way to combat the problem is not to make alcohol more available, he said, but to limit access even further.

“I think there are better options,” he said. “More increased penalties for illegal providers. We should have increased funding for law enforcement programs. Education programs starting with younger children — the quicker you can indoctrinate people, have a program that enforces good messages in lives, the more beneficial.”

The state has favored restrictions, as well. Lawmakers, for example, have banned the so-called “power hour,” the hour after midnight when some who had just turned 21 would drink as much as they could.

Where’s the data?

UND spokesman Peter Johnson, speaking for Kelley, said the Amethyst Initiative has not provided any data that would convince UND there’s a reason to lower the drinking age.

“We would be very curious to see what kind of research there would be that would suggest it would be a good thing,” he said. “What’s the argument being made? How’s (lowering the drinking age) going to decrease binge drinking? We’re just not seeing any good data that this is a positive move in any way, shape or form.”

The big issue, he said, is maturity. “It’s pretty tough to say a person at 18 would have the same level of maturity as someone the age of 21.”

UND’s campus is mostly dry, with the exception of private businesses and groups, such as Ralph Englestad Arena and the Suite 49 restaurant and bar.

Still, Johnson said, UND is interested in the outcome of any debate. “We will certainly tune into it, pay attention to the discussion.”

Though Casey, the UMC chancellor, didn’t sign the petition, he indicated mixed feelings.

“I just don’t know,” Casey said. “What we’re at right now, we follow the law. The law is 21, and that’s what people have to follow. That’s what establishments have to follow.”

“Obviously, drinking on campus is an issue, and we do a lot of prevention education on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, trying to raise awareness of some of the consequences,” Casey said. “I think most campuses have been doing that regularly for a number of years. We’re going to continue doing that.”

Binge and underage drinking on his campus, though, are fairly low, he said.

Similar to Johnson’s position, Casey said he’s open to hearing more.

“If it’s about the debate, let’s see if it’s got some merit,” he said. “I think that’s part of what universities and colleges do. They generate some of these discussions.”

“It will be interesting to see what our student representatives have to say,” he said.

Casey would not be the one to get involved, though, he said, because it would come down through the University of Minnesota system.

Online: For more info on the Amethyst Initiative, log on to http://www.amethystinitiative.org.

Grand Forks Herald - 08/23/2008