Pittsburgh College Presidents Join Debate Over Lower Drinking AgeSchool Chiefs Argue Current Law Encourages Binge DrinkingPOSTED: 4:53 pm EDT August 18,
2008 PITTSBURGH -- Presidents of about 100 of the nation's best-known colleges and universities are supporting a national debate over the idea of lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. They say current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.  Watch Marcie Cipriani's Report VOTE: Should The Drinking Age Be Changed? The movement is called the Amethyst Initiative. It began recruiting college presidents more than a year ago to spark a national discussion about changing the drinking age."We allow our students to fight in wars. We allow 18-year-olds to sign contracts, be sued, to vote, yet we're preventing them from drinking in a responsible way," said Robert Morris University President Gregory Dell'Omo, who backs the initiative.Other local school leaders who are on record as supporting the movement are Washington & Jefferson College President Tori Haring-Smith and Chatham University President Esther Barazzone."There's a major problem across college campuses today in regards to the amount of drinking -- the binge drinking concept -- and the current situation is not working," said Dell'Omo.The presidents are already facing criticism from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which calls the Amethyst Initiative "misguided and deliberately misleading" and claims that lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes.Some RMU students side with MADD, while others are in favor of a change."In Europe, the drinking age is lower, and I think if they did it here, it would prevent binge drinking," student Eric MacDonald said."I don't think you should be able to drink until you're 25, because you make stupid mistakes when you're younger," student Christina Seskey said.MADD is urging parents to think twice about sending children to colleges that take part in the Amethyst Initiative."It's very clear the 21-year-old drinking age will not be enforced at those campuses," said Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of MADD.But Dell'Omo said the current line of thinking about alcohol needs to be reviewed, and that's what the Initiative is about."We all want the same thing," Dell'Omo said. "We want young, healthy people who grow up in a mature way and who will be safe and lead productive lives. This is not a matter of advocating drinking in any way." Related Links:
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