Comments on: Choose Responsibility Founder

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:01:33 +0000

Very well thought-out. However, it sounds like you’ve concluded in advance that everyone will drink, and therefore, everyone should drink responsibility. I would counter that 18-to-21 year olds should be mature enough to decide whether or not to drink, and some will, for various reasons, choose not to.

I’m sure the point doesn’t need to be made here, since of course your target audience is those who do, or would like to, drink.

By: james mcauley

james mcauley — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:38:36 +0000

As a bartender i can say that i am not looking hopefully to the day when I have to keep control of a bar full of teenagers, on the other hand, maybe i won’t have to worry so much about the 30 and 40 year olds who won’t let you tell them when enough is enough.
The fact is we spend an ever increasing ammount of money on police stings and DUI round ups, to no avail, because it isn’t the guy at the bart that gets plastered and runs someone over. It is the guy sitting at home with a bottle of whiskey and another bottle of anti-depresents.
We need real debate about these issues, and i’m glad somebody is trying to start that debate, even id i don’t neccesarily want his college students in my bar.
And if nobody else noticed, its easier for a teenager to get crystal meth and a handgun that it is a six pack and a smoke.

James McAuley
Oklahoma City ’02

By: Tom Earp

Tom Earp — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:21:05 +0000

Indulgence of Alchohal has become a major topics of Risk Management and we wonder why.

There is little home teaching of how to drink these days so when these young people get away from home and join whether LXA or any other GLO the idea is to drink until either drunk or not be accepted. Is this a wrong message to send, of course it is.

But to tell a young man who is 18-19 who can vote or get killed in the Military cannot imbibe is wrong.

Our Federal Government set the standards and have started this problem.

There is nothing wrong with drinking in a reasonable manner! But it has become an epidemic and people get hurt or killed. Then, it is blamed on us as Greek Organizations.

Tom Earp
LX Z # 1
Pittsburg State Un. Kansas

By: Mark Whiting

Mark Whiting — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:29:22 +0000

Since we are doing studies on this matter, is there any correlation between under-age-21 drinking and the inability to spell check or grammar check a person’s own posts in a forum? I see some anecdotal evidence on this page. ;-)
(By the way, hello again to my fellow AK Mark Rutherford!)
Mark Whiting
AK 846
Wabash College

By: Mark Rutherford

Mark Rutherford — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:37:28 +0000

I’m proud to see a Lambda Chi try to restore common sense to the drinking age issue and get the debate back on track.

MADD was a noble group until it’s founder lost control of it. In my opinion it now seems to be a prohibitionist group and is no longer a group seeking responsible actions and common sense in government policies.

I wish Brother McCardell the best in this endeavor. However in my opinion MADD seems to have become a special interest group with self-preservation as its primary concern. Watch out for them!

By: William C. CURTIS

William C. CURTIS — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:37:53 +0000

The problem with the article is that it makes drinking seem to be a “Right”, the proof of adulthood, a “freedom” issue, a necessary Rubicon to be passed over on the way to maturity. It is none of these. The person who matures without drinking is a far more mature and responsible person than the one who needs this crutch. I have drank about as much as anyone in my life and I can not think of a single incident where having a drink EVER accomplished any thing positive. It may not have done anything negative but it never made anything better. Think about it.

By: Tim McLeod

Tim McLeod — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:54:05 +0000

I have been saying this for years. Thanks be that someone finally did the research and found a forum. Leave it to a Lambda Chi, right. I am 53 years old and was able to drink, legally, at age 18. I started drinking at 14. I am also a recovering alcoholic. Have been for 23 years. Do I think the legal age of 18 will help? Somewhat. Do I think it will hurt? No way! Many, many of our new recovery members are under the age of 18 and the vast majority sre under 21. Has the current law helped? Not in the least!!! Correct me if I am wrong but isn’t the legal drinking age in the Armed Forces 18? Tim McLeod IY 387 East Carolina University

By: Mike Oghia

Mike Oghia — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:51:05 +0000

The two gentlemen who responded above me hit the points very well, so I won’t reiterate them. As a 19-year-old junior in college that is graduating next May, it makes me very upset, however, that I’m going to have a Bachelors of Science in Sociology before I’ll be able to drink legally in public and enjoy a drink after graduation with my parents for instance. I think that’s simply an embarrassment to our country. The true “responsibly” lies in the parents of our youth to educate them and provide them the knowledge they need so that they can be adults and make good, informed, responsible decisions. Kudos to you brother McCardell, keep up the good work!

In ZAX,

Mike Oghia
ZS 1002
Zeta-Sigma Zeta
University of Louisville,
Louisville, Kentucky

By: C Kimball Bell

C Kimball Bell — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:43:16 +0000

I went to high school in New York 58 to 62, the drinking age was 18 for everything. Collage at K-State 62 to 66, drinking age was 18 for 3.2 beer and 21 for everything else.

Most of my high school friends “learned” to drink at home … most of my college friends had not “learned” to drink at home. As a result most of the college freshman DID HAVE A BINGE DRINKING problem.

My thoughts are: All “Life Learning” should start at home with parental supervision at the earliest age possible.

Abstinences is not a form of education and is never a solution to social or behavioral problems.

By: Ronald W. Nestor

Ronald W. Nestor — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:46:08 +0000

Mr. McCardell, I have totally agreed with your premise for the past 20 years or so. I have a 19 yr old son & he is responsible for his actions & acts accordingly. These fine young people at 18 can die for their country, marry, vote, enter a contract, etc. but are not mature enough to handle a drink. This is ridiculus. We have a ‘lobby’ in MADD that has too much control in the goverment. Saner minds need to take control and bring this debate out in Congress to change the 10% law. A State Legislator in SC brought this issue up earlier this year in SC and due to the 10% rule it would cost SC close to 200 million dollars – obviously it was voted down. THis needs to be addressed at the Federal level. Please continue to push your issue. Thank you.

By: Islam Abdul-Moneim

Islam Abdul-Moneim — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:40:37 +0000

Great Article. If we as under 21 adults are mature enough to fight for the country then I assume we are mature enough to drink responsibly, assign a designated driver, and make sure no one gets hurt. In Addition to that and honestly speaking, if you have never drank till your 21 and you start drinking then (which should be for most people your senior year of college) then you will more thank likely drink excessively and ruin your last year of college. It will be your first time and you will still be learning and experimenting on how to drink in moderation.