Groups discuss drinking age policy

Three possible options were debated among the organizations.

By Kaylen Ralph

Published Jan. 27, 2010

Representatives from various MU groups and organizations gathered Tuesday evening to engage in the discussion promoted by the Amethyst Initiative concerning the drinking age minimum of 21.

In October 2009, the Missouri Students Association passed a resolution in support of the Amethyst Initiative, which calls upon elected officials to weigh all the consequences of alcohol policies and to invite new ideas of how best to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol use.

Past MSA Operations Committee Chairman Josh Travis, in conjunction with several MSA senators, organized the town hall meeting.

Approximately 30 people attended the meeting, many of whom were MSA leaders and senators. Sophomore Kale Gosney, a member of the MU Young Democrats, said he wanted to hear the dialogue regarding the issue of the drinking age.

“I feel that more education is necessary and binge drinking is definitely an issue; it boils down to more responsibility more than anything,” Gosney said.

At the meeting, three possible policy proposals were discussed: keeping the drinking age at 21, lowering the drinking age to “X” or instituting a gradual tier system.

One of the most prevalent voices heard at the event was that of Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude, who described herself as an advocate of students and someone with their well being in mind.

“In spite of the drinking age, we’re going to make a concerted effort to teach students what drinking responsibly means and how to be able to establish what their BAC is,” Dude said. “In a sense it’s teaching them how to drink but on a safer level.”

Junior Abhi Sivasailam represented the MU College Libertarians and spoke on the disparity between drinking age policy and his personal political beliefs.

“I believe in the virtues of a society that honors individuals as stewards of their own lives, as ends in themselves and as autonomous creatures capable of rational thoughts and choices, and the current MLDA-21 does not support those virtues,” Sivasailam said.

Representatives from the College Democrats and Republicans agreed the issue of the drinking age is one not necessarily divided by party lines.

“I think that the real issue here as far as binge drinking is the culture of our youth,” MU College Republicans Chairman Brett Dinkins said. “On campus that culture is very risky because when you go out, you’re going out to drink, you’re going out to get drunk. There’s a reason you’re drinking Natural Light and not going to Flat Branch.”

Denise Boyd, a representative of the MU Parents Association, voiced her main concern as the fear her 20-year-old daughter would be caught drinking, and their family would be faced with hefty legal fees.

Attendees of the meeting were asked write down their personal opinion on the option they believed to be the best, the results of which Travis said would be published in the near future.

At the conclusion of the meeting, MSA President Tim Noce spoke on behalf of the student body and addressed a status quo he said is not working.

“Right now when you come to campus as a freshman you are told the campus is dry, that Greektown is dry and that is obviously not the case,” Noce said. “And I’m asking what we can do to address those problems. I don’t care if the drinking age is changed, but I just want to see these problems addressed. The things I care about the most are the problems we have on campus currently with the alcohol policy not working.”