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I'm tired. Our daughter presented us with our first grandchild today, so I hope the following makes some sense.
My thoughts on this thread have absolutely nothing to do with changing anyone's drinking habits. Dry housing won't do that. I think it was James who correctly pointed out that this is totally a liability issue. But that's important. Chapters can't survive without liability insurance. People are bringing suits against everyone these days. As an alumni volunteer, that scares me.
On the other hand, I don't think that you could successfully argue that enforced dry housing causes more people to drink. I think the bridge goes all the way. It just may not reach the intended destination.
It's also a thread about being smart. If you break the rules and the law -- that's not smart. If you get caught, you're going to pay the price. If I saw one chapter closed for breaking the rules, I'd pay attention. If I saw a second one, I'd take it really seriously. These guys have seen four chapters close in the past eighteen months and still don't get it. They'll probably be the fifth.
Geez. If you're going to break the rules, don't do it in the fraternity house. There's already a target on the front door as far as the university and cops are concerned.
I know that lots of undergraduates are going to drink. All I would like to see is some intelligence and moderation. I'm not advocating breaking the law. I'm not in favor of breaking your National rules. I'm not saying it's OK. I'm not giving permission. In the best of all worlds, everyone would wait until they are of age to drink. But I know that's simply not going to happen.
Since I was the poster child for underage drinking when I was young, I would be terribly hypocritical to just say "DON'T." (Even though that would be best for all involved) If or when you get caught, however, why take the chance of taking the rest of the fraternity or sorority down the tubes with you? That's being doubly dumb.
And for your own sake, use a little common sense and moderation. As I said somewhere, just because I lived through it, doesn't mean you will. Drink responsibly. If you're not mature enough to do that -- then don't drink.
By the way, the 18 year old drinking age in Ohio was for 3.2 (we called it "low") beer. What most people don't realize is that that percentage is only the "upper" limit of the brew. "High" beer (6 or 7%) again was only the upper limit. A low beer might be 3.2% and a high beer might be 3.3%. And you can get pretty well trashed on either. Thus speaketh the voice of experience.
I hope that made some sense.
DeltAlum
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