Binge drinking is campus-wide problem

I have noticed a common misconception in some recent letters to the editor that I think reflect a larger misperception on campus: Underage and binge drinking are not an exclusively Greek phenomenon.

Although I would not consider myself an outspoken defender of all things Greek (I do not belong to any Greek organization), I think that the Greek community is somewhat of a scapegoat for a campus-wide, and even nation-wide underage drinking problem.

In a 1997 CORE Drug And Alcohol Survey administered to 270 UA students, 62 percent of those under 21 responded that they had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Thirty-six percent of the respondents under 21 said that they had consumed 5 or more drinks in one sitting within the last two weeks.

My freshman year I lived in the "substance free" community of Hopi Residence Hall. Even in this environment, I observed and experienced much underage social and binge drinking.

Most of my friends were not Greek affiliated, and most of our underage drinking was done off campus at private parties, not fraternity houses.

My point is that you do not have to be Greek to experience underage or binge drinking. There is a drinking sub-culture on college campuses across the nation fueled by icons in our society and a drinking age that does not reflect reality. As the CORE survey reveals, although not "everyone" chooses to drink, the great percentage of those under 21 Do.

Perhaps the nature of Greek social organizations amplifies both the occurrences and the attention given to Greek binge and underage drinking. However, I think the root of this "evil" stems from an unrealistic drinking age and the view our culture has of college evident in many forms in our society such as the films Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds (interestingly Revenge of the Nerds was actually filmed on the U of A campus).

Maybe it's time to stop finger-pointing at the Greeks and investigate the true causes of the underage drinking problem.

Jeff Schrade

Political science/ economics senior