Who was at fault in the MIT tragedy? Current social norms. " the collegiate culture of drinking seems to be moving from keg parties to industrial-strength guzzling." Right in tune with the move over the last quarter century to more-more-more. "We have to be/do/have more than they were/did/had." I'm politically very progressive-liberal, but some things need to roll back, to return to a time when common sense played a central role. College kids always have, always will drink... College elders -- IFCs, seniors and even Deans -- need to stop drinking practices that are potentially fatal. Would a fraternity president allow a pledge to drive after a kegger? No. (P.S. -- I went to college, belonged to a fraternity and drank like hell in the late '60s; I've also been clean and sober since 1987. I know a little of where I speak.)
Dying For A Drink
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The next morning, a family friend named Bob Clement took Scott's siblings to the Fiji house. The frat brothers had Scott's belongings boxed and waiting. The Fijis looked chastened--and anxious. A few stepped forward to apologize. They carried the boxes to two cars and helped fend off TV crews.
The Kruegers' chance to help Scott select a college, and a place to live, is long past. But if they could, Darlene says, they would put to use all they've learned. They would visit hospital emergency rooms near campuses. They'd chat up the nurses and ask how often kids arrive with alcohol poisoning. Next stop: the local police, for a fill on what the night shift has to deal with. Then they'd quiz the admissions office on what is often an afterthought: the details of student housing.
The Kruegers now live amid the relics of Scott's life. His school awards fill a Compaq computer box. In the dining room sits a huge plant from the president of the Fiji house, with a card inscribed, ""My warmest and deepest sympathy.'' The Kruegers keep it as a bitter remembrance. John Bevilacqua remembers Scott talking about why he chose the Massachusetts school. ""If I go to Cornell,'' he told Bevilacqua, ""I'll always wonder what would have happened if I'd gone to MIT.'' Now those who knew Scott Krueger are left to wonder just the opposite.
OUT OF CONTROL: THE BINGEING PHENOMENONMany college students, particularly white athletes who join fraternities or sororities, drink heavily. Below, the percentage of students in each category who binge:
Age Under 21 45% 21-23 48 24+ 28 College residences Fraternity/sorority 84% Coed dorm 52 Off-campus housing 40 Single-sex dorm 38 Race White 48% Hispanic 38 Nat. Amer./Nat. Alask. 34 Asian/Pacific islander 21 African-American 16 Gender Male 50% Female 39 Participation in sports Nonparticipant 36% Participant 54 Team leader 58 Attitude Frequent bingers who think they drink lightly/moderately Male 91% Female 78 SOURCES: HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOURNAL OF AMERICAN COLLEGE HEALTH© 1998
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