Reconsider drinking age?

From The Daily Texan

The UT Vice President's Council recommended by unanimous decision Thursday that President William Powers not sign a controversial statement by university presidents from across the country calling for a reconsideration of the legal drinking age.

The Amethyst Initiative, led by former Middlebury College President John McCardell, is supported by 129 university and college presidents who agree that a culture of clandestine binge-drinking has formed on college campuses because "21 is not working."

The initiative's statement, written by McCardell, stops short of spelling out a desired policy, but urges elected officials to support a civil debate on the current drinking age.

Powers learned of the initiative days before the statement was released Aug. 20 and said he would consult with the University's vice presidents before deciding whether to sign on.

Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzales said he made it clear to the other vice presidents that the initiative was not intended to prescribe a particular policy solution but to start a conversation on university campuses. He said the council based its decision on existing research linking a rise in the legal drinking age to a drop in alcohol-related deaths.

Gonzales said legislators ultimately are responsible for leading discussion on matters of policy.

"This is a matter of public policy, and there are elected representatives that are responsible for creating and voting on public policy," Gonzales said.

Student Government spokeswoman Chelsea Fosse said SG representatives have not decided whether to take a stance on the initiative.

Fosse is a member of the Alcohol Task Force, a working group composed of representatives from across UT considering issues related to alcohol abuse on campus. The task force expects to make recommendations to Vice President Gonzales on how to improve the University's policies on alcohol abuse sometime during the upcoming academic year.

Formed in 2007, the task force is still in an information-gathering stage, but Fosse said she hoped the recommendations would emphasize a more proactive approach to alcohol abuse. She said such an approach could involve a campus administrator advising student organizations on how to address alcohol use.

"The most important thing is making it not just a retroactive disciplinary policy on alcohol but something that's proactive and embraces whatever the organization's culture is," Fosse sai