[AlphaSigOU]

Back in my younger days as an undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma, many fraternity parties used to be open to the public and awash in copious quantities of 3.2 beer. Today, with third-party insurance rules and other restrictions on the sale and serving of alcohol, those days are but a distant memory.

However, the effects of alcohol abuse continues to rear its ugly head everytime a pledge or a member of a fraternity or sorority gets thoroughly drunk or dies from alcohol poisoning. For the media, all you hafta say is the magic words 'alcohol' and 'fraternity' and they'll be swarming at the scene looking for an exclusive.

I wouldn't be surprised if OU President Boren enacts some kind of very strict alcohol rules upon the Greek community, with severe penalties for violations, up to and including the revocation of charters. In OU's highly competitive Greek system, losing a chapter can be devastating, with recolonization taking years to accomplish.

Kids these days, like in my day, consider themselves 'bulletproof' ("It can't happen to me, I know how to handle my liquor..." (Famous last words...)) While I don't advocate neo-prohibitionism by going totally dry, both alumni and undergraduates need to enforce the rules enacted by the national fraternity and the university.