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Ban on campus alcohol
won’t stop binge drinking

The proposal to ban alcohol on the University of Hawaii campus is reminiscent of the 1927-1930 experiment to introduce prohibition in America. Experience should have demonstrated by now that you cannot root out the drinking of alcohol by outlawing it. The origins of college drinking go far beyond the bounds of the university -- tracing their emergence to community cultures, habits of parents and the just plain exuberance of youth. To think that you can stop youngsters from growing into adulthood is like wishing to place steel shoes on young girls' feet to keep them looking pretty and petite when they grow up! Thank God we live in a more emancipated era.

The legal alcohol on campus does not contribute to drinking in dormitories. In fact, drinks are not permitted outside the only bar on campus at Baale, and underage drinking is strictly enforced, possibly even more strictly than at bars in town. The campus bar existed peacefully even in earlier years when there was no drinking problem among our UH students. If the bar on campus was an adverse influence on our youth, why did it not have that influence in earlier years? The bar has safely served a purpose on campus for more than 15 years now. With all due respect, if our well-intentioned lieutenant governor wants to curtail the "bad" influence of alcohol on UH students, perhaps he should address the drinking in town, where our students spend more time, and without supervision at that, than on campus. The idea to stamp out the sale of alcohol on campus is a knee-jerk reaction to an issue that no one has taken the pains to evaluate and analyze.

Binge drinking on campus is not restricted to UH. Mainland schools realized this problem more than a decade ago. As the many other things that affect Hawaii a few years after they have exhibited themselves on the mainland -- such as new technologies, and economic upswings and downswings -- even this issue of binge drinking seems to carry a timed phase difference from events on the mainland, since it is rearing its head only now.

Binge drinking in mainland schools is rampant even in schools that do not allow bars on campus. Therefore, there is once again lack of evidence that bars on campus contribute to the drinking habits of students. To the contrary, all schools in Canada have bars, but the drinking problem in Canada is far more subdued than in the United States. It would be reasonable to hypothesize that having a bar on campus actually serves to teach students how to be mature and responsible, and hence limits the amount of drinking misbehavior by students.

To extend this argument, the drinking problem seems absolutely unrelated to bars on campus. To identify where the problem is, try checking the hormone levels of students, what they eat, the type of drugs and medicines that medical practitioners prescribe, the affluence they experience owing to a relatively advanced economy compared to other nations, the stresses of getting a good job, the heavy workload of students ...

Whereas bars in town can be expected to get rowdy, the bar on campus always has a decent and dignified atmosphere. Visit the campus bar and check it out for yourself.

Moreover, the campus bar serves other purposes than just for students. Researchers use it to unwind after a hard day's attempt to solve complex study problems; visitors and consultants to university programs can be taken there for a meal with a hearty glass of red wine; faculty members enjoy using the bar and arranging meetings among themselves in the well-lit atmosphere, while they soak in the latest world news from CNN; those attending conferences at the East-West Center can while their time away at the bar with a healthy soup and sandwich alongside, and then visit the art exhibition on campus just a short, beautiful walk away. The bar serves the legitimate aims of a respectful and mature society on campus that is dedicated to advancing the quality of life for its students and the world. It seems insensitive to take away the privileges of a large part of the university community for the sake of an unsubstantiated, half-baked idea.

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