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I, too am old enough to remember the two tiered system in Ohio that was similar to the one he described in Kansas. It created some very interesting events that you would never see today (part of Greek Week were the "Pony Keg Killer" and the "Beer Olympics... I left off the names of the fraternities that sponsored these events so none of their current members flame this thread with statements about their current risk management policies-- remember this was 20+ years ago)
The issue when voters in Ohio raised the drinking age from 18 to 19 was high school students (and yes, I was going to bars while in HS) coming in hung over. Ohio was one of the last holdouts for the 21 law and it was enacted from pressure from the feds. It has created the "forbidden fruit" aura and I see more binge drinking now.
Greeks are NOT the ones who should spearhead any effort to change it. That would feed into every stereotype out there. It should come from 18-21 year olds demonstrating community activism and using the voting/ serving in the military factors. Above all, politicians cater to those who vote and contribute to their campaigns (either $$ or time). You want to change something-- vote and get involved! Make friends with your congressional representative!
It won't happen as long as Harvard and other places are publishing data about binge drinking, etc unless someone actually does a well designed study that compares pre/post academic perfomances/ death & injury from alcohol and PROVES that raising the drinking age to 21 has backfired.
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