OU dad not crazy about our advice to new studentsOU dad not crazy about our advice to new students

The other day a future Ohio University dad shot me an angry e-mail, criticizing an article that ran in our New Student Survival Guide (what we used to call the Freshman Orientation Guide). The piece, headlined “Seven Ways to Avoid Getting Caught Drinking,” talked about OU students can avoid getting written up when partaking of alcohol in their residence halls.

One of our student writers, Adam Flango, wrote the piece as a tongue-in-cheek treatment of the topic, though most of his ideas actually made sense.

The father, who had seen the article while attending OU’s pre-college with his daughter last month, was aghast that we could be encouraging law-breaking, and wondered if our paper could be legally responsible if any students acted upon our advice, and as a result, hurt themselves or others.

Here’s an excerpt from the dad’s e-mail (which he did not intend to be published as a letter): “It was very unfortunate to read and learn The Athens NEWS wishes to help teach minor dorm residents how to drink and not get caught. You undermine more than laws; you undermine the staff and efforts of Ohio University, who are responsible in their actions to control and discourage such activity. I'm appalled and you should be ashamed. I would hope in the future you and your editorial staff do a better job. If you can't bring yourself to encourage students to follow laws, at least put your low standard of ethics aside and stay out of the business of encouraging and teaching them how to break drinking laws.”

I made the mistake of reacting defensively but then after he replied with corresponding heat, we calmed down and had a civil online discussion about his concerns. (When will I learn to restrain my e-mail trigger finger?)

My multi-pronged argument included the following points:

1. The article didn’t tell students to drink alcohol in the dorms. Rather it addressed students who choose to do so.

No student at OU who wants to drink alcohol deprives him- or herself of it, whether the student is 22, 20 or 18. I know this from my own experience as a student in Athens (at a time when 18- to 20-year-olds could only legally drink “low” beer), my dealings with successive generations of OU students over the years, and information gleaned from my two daughters and their friends, who were/are students at OU.

2. The 21 drinking age is stupid, ineffective and often counterproductive. While the following is a cliché, its logic is unassailable: “If a young man or woman can be asked to die for his or her country, then that young man or woman shouldn’t risk arrest if he or she gets caught drinking a 12-ounce Coors Light.” The 21 drinking age is widely ignored anyway, and a good argument can be made that the “forbidden fruit” phenomenon encourages more irresponsible binge-drinking than might otherwise occur. This is born out in European countries with relaxed attitudes about young people drinking (but notably, very strict enforcement of drunk-driving laws).

In the past, even OU officials have privately acknowledged that they could manage student drinking easier if it were legal, supervised and out in the open.

3. A few years ago, OU strengthened penalties for alcohol violations, including simple possession. Under these policies, a student who gets caught drinking in the dorms is placed on probation, and if he gets caught drinking in the dorms a second time, is subject to probable suspension. OU officials have reported that alcohol violations have dropped since the new policy went into effect, though students with dorm experience have theorized that this is because: 1) facing stiffer penalties, students are being more careful; and 2) Residence Life staffers are reluctant to bust a student for a relatively minor drinking offense, if the citation could result in the student getting kicked out of school.

Some OU officials have suggested that if this is the result of the stiffer penalties — students causing less trouble, being less disruptive — then it can’t be considered a failure, even if many students continue drinking in the dorms.

ALL THIS BEING THE CASE — that under-age drinking is inevitable in the dorms, that the 21 drinking age is stupid and ineffective, and that the potential penalties for possessing alcohol in the dorms are out of proportion to the infraction itself – why not give OU students tips on how to avoid getting caught?

As I pointed out to the angry father, most of the “tips” in our freshman orientation article involved such things as not drawing attention to yourself, not bothering other people, not inviting obnoxious friends to the party, and not treating RAs with disrespect. In other words, our student writer was advising students to avoid the sort of conduct that gives alcohol a bad name.

If the only thing people did when drinking alcohol was hang out in their rooms talking, then there’d be no need to set a minimum drinking age.

Seriously, though, I believe it’s a public service if we can prevent one otherwise quality student from getting tossed out of school based on a second minor alcohol violation. Of course, if he were that good of a student, he could figure all this out on his own.

REPLY TO THIS COMMENT

OU Grad

The Athens News has been publishing this little "guide" for years. I got one during precollege in '92, and it basically said the same kind of stuff. Personally, I thought it was kinda funny, and clearly some of it is very tongue-in-cheek. Of course, being their oldest kid, my parents had a similar reaction as this dad. I seemed to have turned out OK, managing my studies with my partying.

But the author (Terry?) is being disingenuous with his first bulleted argument. Yes, I’m sure there’s no direct statement saying “if you’re underage, go get blasted”, but the whole nature of the “guide” makes underage drinking seem fun, something everyone does, etc etc. Basically, it’s an encouragement instead of a discouragement, which is think is what the aforementioned father has a problem with. I don’t have a problem with publishing it, but you can’t then say that it doesn’t make drinking I the dooms sound like the thing to do, regardless if almost everyone’s doing it or not.

On a related note, points #2 and #3 are spot on. The liquor laws in this country are archaic, hypocritical, and just plain asinine, carried over from a time when women couldn’t vote and slaves tended to the crops. It’s as ridiculous as government censoring what we can see and hear in the media in this day in age….oh wait, the FCC still does that too.

WTF happened to my comment? Jeeze!? Well, sorry about the metadata.

Terry Smith

Sorry about that. It's fixed belatedly.

MaryAnn

I believe we talk and argue about alcohol/parties/pot/drugs in order to try and put awareness out there so that kids will make responsible choices. Guess what. They don't. Oh a few will, but there is an insatiable desire to be 'bad' or do that which is 'taboo', especially those away from home first-timers.

While I do think it important to raise awareness, I also believe it adds an air of mystique which is irrestible to most kids. We go through this every year as the new session begins. But we simply can't let the issue die down because that's when it appears that it is ok to drink underage and/or irresponsibly. So the real problem is that it is glorified...by the returning students, by the local media, by the bar owners, by the numerous parties which have a large amount of unnecessary alcohol/bongs/drugs.

What is the answer? Education. Reality found through real=life events that people have experienced. alternative 'hot' places to go in order to meet and greet, ..there ARE other ways to entertain the students.

So can we please simply tone down the reminiscing, the euphoric recall, those who continue to say 'I did the same thing...taught us a lot', the grandiosity of "I made it, so can they" or the resistence to be honest and acknowledge the consequences alcohol and drugs have had on the lives of those who have come through our colleges/our streets.

Do we not have a vision for our young people beyond all the consequences of substances....Please????

timinathens

Mr. Smith, I am anxious to see your new article entitled "How to not get caught with your Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) on campus".

By your reasoning: The ridiculous, arcane laws governing CCW (as some feel, me included) should be ignored so that law abiding, responsible students and faculty can be prepared to protect themselves and others while on campus. I merely need to point to the multiple rapes on the OU campuses each year, the recent off campus burglary committed by an OU football player and the tragic Virginia Tech shootings. All of these incidents could have been prevented or repelled by a law abiding citizen carrying concealed.

You see, just because you feel a law is stupid and should be ignored, that doesn't give you a right to encourage others to ignore it, especially in your venue and reaching out to young minds that are being newly introduced to the world. You have a public and university obligation to be non-bias and law abiding.

Tim, Athens, Ohio

that1guy

This is an old story with Athens, and an even older story with The Athens News.

For evidence of this, one need look no further than the hullabaloo that always surrounds Halloween. Or PalmerFest. Or [Insert Number Here]Fest.

This town and newspaper have ALWAYS made a point of pushing the "Party School" narrative to bring the money-burning students in, and then acted shocked when these students then --gasp!-- drink to excess and do crazy things.

And then the town and townspeople invariably start crying out for heads to roll, and a few sacrificial lambs are strutted out for the perp walk, their scholastic careers in tatters and their futures under dark clouds.

For a town that likes to talk the talk when it comes to social awareness, it sure can't seem to look under its own nose to see the issues it is creating and the consequences they bring with them.

Yes, we should not cover riots and disturbances and giant block parties. Nor should we recognize that many/most OU students drink when they're underage (and always have), and give them advice on how to avoid getting thrown out of school for it. All this makes us enablers, and we're very sorry about that. Not. -- your editor

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OU dad not crazy about our advice to new students

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