Binge drinking on college campuses is not a new issue, but some college presidents are fighting for a solution.

College presidents across the country are petitioning for the possibility of lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 -sparking a major public debate.

The Amethyst Initiative was launched in July to call for a reconsideration of 21 as the legal drinking age by John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., and founder of Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit organization that wants to promote more debates on public issues.

The name “Amethyst” is derived from the ancient Greek words meaning “not” and “intoxicated.” The gemstone amethyst was believed to be an antidote to the negative effects of intoxication in ancient Greek culture. The group chose the symbol because their goal is to encourage moderation and responsibility as an alternative to the reckless decisions regarding alcohol that young Americans experience, Grace Kronenberg said spokesperson for the initiative.

At press time, Kronenberg said the Amethyst Initiative statement had been signed by a group of 130 college and university presidents. They believe the current legal drinking age, 21, is not working and the public should reconsider the laws that govern alcohol consumption in the U.S.

By signing the petition, college presidents, including Stephen D. Schutt of Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Ill.; Frank G. Pogue of Chicago State University and Charles R. Middleton of Roosevelt University, both in Chicago; James E. Wright of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. and Richard Brodhead of Duke University in Durham, N.C., are asking for an informed and dispassionate debate with elected officials and the general public to reconsider 21 as the legal drinking age.

“The Amethyst Initiative is not advocating any specific policy, but in general, we feel that the system is broken and needs to be addressed,” Kronenberg said. “Debate is the first step.”

Columbia’s president, Warrick L. Carter, has not signed the petition, and, as of now, the college has not taken an official position on changing the drinking age.

“It is a complicated issue, and there are arguments on both sides,” said Mark Lloyd, associate vice president of Communications and Marketing. “Senior administration continues to have discussions about the issues and there are divergent opinions among the senior administration.”

Lloyd said that on one hand, 18-year-olds have the right to vote, to serve in the military and are treated as adults in lots of ways, but there is an inconsistency by denying them the right to buy and consume alcohol. On the other hand, Lloyd said there seems to be a body of evidence that suggests there is a decline in the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths following the raising of the legal drinking age.

“We’re going to look for additional research and additional clarity about the issue [before taking a position],” Lloyd said.

Tom Karow, senior public relations director at Roosevelt University, said President Middleton signed the initiative because he thinks there needs to be a discussion of what the drinking age should be.

“[Middleton] doesn’t know and Roosevelt [University] doesn’t know what [age] it should be right now-if it should stay the same or it if should be lowered,” Karow said. “But he believes that it’s an important issue and that it should be part of a public policy discussion.”

Chicago State University President Frank G. Pogue said he worked on a campus in New York after the legal drinking age was changed from 18 to 21 in 1984. He said students had a tendency to drink in their cars because they could not drink on campus. Schools need to focus on alcohol awareness and make sure they have educational programs in place to ensure students understand the impact alcohol has on their ability to achieve academic excellence, regardless of age, he said.

“There’s nothing magical about 18,” Pogue said. “I signed it [the initiative] because age doesn’t really explain a whole lot to me unless it has to do with the primary role of the educational institution to make sure people are educated in this area.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, prior to 1984, when the 21 law went into effect, there was an under-21 DUI crash rate of more than 5,000 deaths, and the highest demographic was in the 16-20 age range. After the 21-and-up law went into effect, the highest demographic jumped to the 21-24 age range and the under-21 crash rate decreased to 2,000 deaths in 2005.

“How does one connect those dots? You will address the crisis by lowering the [drinking] age,” Malham said. “Kids are drinking on campus, and it’s presenting a problem-here’s the solution, we’ll make this legal. Someone really needs to connect those dots.”

Kronenberg said when the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was established in 1984, it was passed as a drunk driving and highway safety policy. Now, the Amethyst Initiative sees the effects of the law beyond the roadways, she said.

“First and foremost, it has banished drinking away from public places, where it can be supervised and managed, and [driven it] into private locations either off-campus or behind closed doors where the drinking takes place with intoxication as the end goal,” Kronenberg said. “There’s been a cultural shift that we’ve seen away from bars, restaurants and large public gatherings to these more secretive locations over the last 25 years since the drinking age was changed to 21.”

Torre Caruth, a junior audio arts and acoustics major, said he thinks lowering the drinking age is a

good idea.

“If you can smoke, you should be able to drink,” Caruth said.

Columbia is currently a mostly dry campus. The Buckingham, 59 E. Van Buren St., is the only housing building that allows alcohol on its 21-and-over floors. The University Center of Chicago, 525 S. State St., does allow drinking in its 21-and-over floors, but not for Columbia students. The University Center is privately owned and Columbia students have to follow Columbia’s dry campus rules.

Ann Almasi, coordinator of Residence Life and Adjudication, said if the drinking age was legally changed, Columbia would follow the new law. However, she does not think it will necessarily make students safer.

“It would all depend on how safely people choose to consume alcohol,” Almasi said. “Some people can make responsible decisions and drink safely. Others under the influence can lose their decision-making ability.”

David Malham, a grief therapist for the Chicago chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), said lowering the drinking age is not the solution to the problem of underage binge drinking on college campuses.

Malham said drinking at 18 is a public health and safety issue. A person’s brain does not stop developing until he or she reaches the age of 23 or 24. Malham said an 18-year-old’s brain cannot fully connect actions and consequences to caution.

“College students will typically think they can have six or eight beers in a two-hour period and it won’t affect their behavior and it won’t affect their driving,” Malham said. “That’s totally absurd, but that’s another piece of their inexperience.”

Another criticism of 21 as the legal drinking age Malham does not agree with is the idea that if a person is old enough to enlist in the military, a person is old enough to drink.

“No one says if you’re old enough to die for your country, you’re old enough to be a senator,” Malham said. “‘Why should I have to wait until 30?’ No one would think of saying that.”

Hannah Butemeyer, 20, a senior journalism major, does not think lowering the drinking age is a good idea because she thinks 18-year-olds are too immature to be responsible drinkers.

“Allowing them to have alcohol would cause more problems because they would go out to bars and they would not stay in [the safety of] their dorms,” Butemeyer said.

Martha Meegan, director of Campus Safety and Security, is also strongly opposed to lowering the drinking age. She said there is a myth that exists in society’s view of alcohol and the view of artists that for one to be truly creative, one must be in an altered state.

Meegan said she thinks creativity needs a clear mind to define its form and its ultimate production. She also does not think lowering the drinking age will solve the binge drinking problem.

“The idea to solve the problem of binge drinking by opening the floodgates of opportunity to young drinkers is failing to address the problem,” Meegan said. “We have created a culture dependent on substances for the ultimate high or to comfort us in times of despair.”