Alcohol policy fails to address problem

After the death of freshman Gary DeVercelly from alcohol poisoning last spring, Rider University of Lawrenceville, N.J., decided to take a much firmer stance on alcohol consumption. This fall, the university banned alcohol on campus, added a freshmen alcohol information seminar, and positioned "watchdogs" in fraternities and sororities to enforce the new policy. Rider University also created harsher consequences for those caught, including calling parents after the first offense, a mandatory education seminar, and even potential expulsion.

Although excessive drinking has harmful and sometimes very dangerous consequences, banning alcohol from a college campus is a simplistic response that will cause more harm than good.

If students want to drink, then they will find a way to drink. This new plan will divert students, especially underclassmen, to off-campus parties, which are inherently less safe than those in residence halls, where there is the constant surveillance of RAs, campus police, and other university authority figures. Upperclassmen of legal age will be more likely to visit local bars, increasing the amount of students who will drive home and navigate city streets under the influence.

In the university's defense, it still permits alcohol in limited areas, such as the pub in the student union. But let's face it: The majority of the student body will still venture off campus for its weekend festivities.

The only answer to excessive drinking is education. Everyone at Boston College remembers completing AlcoholEdu as freshmen, attending a seminar with the BC Police Department, and receiving the occasional, "be smart this weekend," from the RA. The knowledge is there, but it's up to the student to apply it.

If Rider University president Mordechai Rozanski truly wants to make the school a "model in the fight to combat alcohol abuse on campus," he must adopt a revolutionary alcohol education program that offers information in a way that is easy to understand, remember, and apply.

The Heights