Dozens of universities have introduced stricter rules on alcohol, especially at fraternities. The NY Times sent reporters to five campuses to examine the new measures.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/us/college-crackdown-drinking-sexual-assault.html
Quite frankly, I’m astonished any university until now allowed kegs. It seems like an extraordinarily bad idea to let a bunch of 18-21-year-olds have gigantic quantities of alcohol intended to be consumed in a short amount of time.
Ohio State selling beer to general ticket admission holders for revenue seems to make business sense, but it seems like a simple solution is to check ID at the point of sale and issue wristbands to people 21 and up, then only sell beer in the stadium to people with a wristband. And obviously only sell one beer at a time, Jesus. Sure, you can still pass a beer to a friend if you only buy one at a time, but you are at least attempting to decrease the likelihood of that happening at a venue where a sizable contingent of attendees are under 21.
Also, women do, on average, get drunk faster than men because of physiological differences. That’s a fact. It’s not blaming them for sexual assault; it’s simply trying to educate students about their limits. If you’re a 105-lb young woman, you can’t knock it back in competition with your 248-lb wide receiver best friend.
A lot of the arguments about harm reduction techniques are based on the idea that students will simply drink before they go out. But from my perspective…that’s far less of a problem? Typically students who are pre-gaming are drinking in a group, so there’s more social monitoring and control than after they separate at a party; they’re also typically drinking with people they know a little better, so potentially less chances of a drink getting spiked or adulterated. There’s usually some kind of time limit (the beginning of the party - they may arrange to meet 2-3 hours early to get buzzed before leaving). They’re also making decisions about drinking while they’re still relatively sober, not after they’ve already been drinking for 4 hours straight, are drunk, and don’t remember how many drinks they’ve had or what their limits are. I used to attend to those students who were alcohol-related transports to the hospital, and they rarely got there because they were pre-gaming.
Alcohol restrictions and rules have limited effectiveness so long as the student/larger societal subcultures which at a minimum condone or worse, encourage heavy drinking continues.
Especially subcultures which encourage drinking for the sake of getting drunk.
Unless parents and the surrounding local communities with such drinking cultures find better ways of handling this issue before college, students who want to drink will find inventive ways to circumvent such restrictions.
Saw plenty of this in action in and near college campuses. And the much stricter carding regimen in most bars* and campus/municipal law enforcement staking out and apprehending underage students trying to sneak in cases/bottles of beer and hard liquor didn’t really deter them from what I’ve observed during my 5 years in the Boston area.
Just because one pre-games doesn’t necessarily mean they cut down or cease drinking once they arrive at a party/sporting events. On some campuses I’ve observed with heavy drinking/party/sports cultures, students who pre-gamed tended to continue to drink once they arrived at the party/sporting events…and that was considered normal there.
Something needs to be done but I am not sure what can be done. Two female students died at my sons university this weekend. One was at a off campus frat party. I suspect both were alcohol related but a cause of death has not been determined. Last week a girl was shot in the chest at a party buy a guy who was not a student at the university. She was a innocent bystander and lucky for her surgery was not required. I can only think of the pain those parents have to be going thru. There is not much a university can do when the kids decide to drink off campus. Something has to be done.