University of Oklahoma bans alcohol

The University of Oklahoma has proposed banning alcohol on it's campus & fraternity houses.

" Several studies, including those by the National Institute of Health and Harvard University, found that students living in wet residences are four to five times more likely to binge drink, Boren said.
"There was such a clear correlation between binge drinking and wet residential settings that I simply did not feel it would be responsible not to take this action," he said. "

Read the full article here: Oklahoma Daily article 12/2/04

The move comes as a result of increasing numbers of students who are dying from alcohol overdoses. Two Colorado State & University of Colorado students died since the end of August 2004 in unrelated incidents, while U of Ok student Blake Adam Hammontree (19 yo) died Sept 30th from alcohol poisoning.
(link to CNN article on Hammontree)

While these moves will not eliminate the tragic deaths, they may curb them somewhat in the short term.

Prohibition usually fails in the long run, especially if those young people haven't been exposed & counseled in the effects and dangers of those items/drugs/behaviours being proscribed.
(See my post on Zero Tolerance here).

I hope that students and their families will use these tragedies as a springboard into some fruitful discussions regarding the acceptable use of alcohol, as that's where the real change will come from.

/Huge