Drinking ourselves to death?

Friday, October 10, 1997

Drinking ourselves to death?

By Suzanne Evans

The senseless death of Scott Krueger, an 18-year-old college
freshman who died from alcohol-poisoning last week three days after
his unconscious body was found in an MIT fraternity basement, has
renewed the debate over the place of fraternities in American
colleges and universities. Whereas some people blame the Greek
system for the death and contend that fraternities breed a culture
of conformity that encourages irresponsible social behavior, others
claim that the tragedy was an isolated occurrence and should not be
used as "evidence" to indict the entire Greek system.

Despite all the controversy emanating from MIT and other
campuses, there is one contention that is difficult to dispute:
that many fraternity and sorority members are binge drinkers.

Recent studies support that conclusion. A 1994 study published
in the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example,
found that 86 percent of fraternity members engage in binge
drinking, which is defined as five sequential drinks for men, four
for women. Similarly, a 1993 Harvard survey of more than 17,500
students found that almost all fraternity and sorority members
drank.

Sadly, the problems associated with binge drinking at
fraternities seem to be increasing. Consider these recent
tragedies: Within days of the fatal party at MIT, an undergraduate
from the University of Massachusetts died after falling through a
greenhouse roof while apparently drunk. Several weeks earlier, in
late August, a 20-year-old fraternity pledge at Louisiana State
University died after a night of heavy drinking. And last May, two
fraternity men from UCLA drowned during a fraternity-sponsored
houseboat outing at a nearby lake.

The rise of these types of tragedies within the Greek system has
prompted some university and governmental officials to call for the
prohibition of alcohol from all fraternities. Though they may be
well-meaning, it does not seem to me that school officials and
politicians, who are far removed from the social fabric of "Greek"
culture and life, should be responsible for imposing such a
restriction.

Rather, if the decision to ban alcohol is to be effectively
implemented and enforced, it should come from fraternity and
sorority members who decide for themselves that binge-drinking is
not only irresponsible but intolerable social behavior.

Before such a crucial decision can be made, however, public
opinion within the Greek system must change. And that is not likely
to happen immediately or without formidable resistance since wild
fraternity parties are a popular college tradition.

Moreover, since most fraternity and sorority members do not know
anyone who has died from binge-drinking, the recent tragedies at
MIT, LSU and UCLA might not seem tangible enough to prompt them to
alter their own attitudes and behavior.

Yet even if alcohol abuse has not cost them the life of a good
friend or acquaintance, collegiate binge-drinkers can be sure that
the insidious effects of alcohol are quietly taking a toll on their
future, gradually manifesting themselves in a self-destructive
pattern of missed classes, diminished academic interest and
performance, and countless wasted professional, intellectual and
extra-curricular opportunities.

They may not realize the costs of "wild partying" now. But in a
few semesters when mediocre transcripts keep them out of the
graduate or law schools of their choice, or when a lack of
meaningful work experience prevents them from getting the jobs they
want, maybe then they will understand the high price they paid for
heavy drinking. Perhaps this is when they will begin to change
their social assumptions and behavior so finally, we will begin to
see a decline in the type of senseless tragedy that unfolded last
week in a fraternity basement at MIT.