re: ill-advised efforts to control alcohol consumption, lead to situations like Max Gruver

quote:

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At one point during the continual changes in drinking rules, fraternities were able to have parties at the house, but no hard liquor or keg beer. Canned beer only.

While I am against virtually all regulations, this was a somewhat happy medium that most could accept. You can't die from canned beer.

Of course, this too did not last, as Ben Wynn died in spite of these rules. Now virtually no parties are held at fraternity houses. Now they rent off campus bars or facilities, where LSU has no authority.

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We could have liquor and beer but no "common source" (kegs, fraternity couldn't buy the beer, etc.).

In the end these aren't rules intended to save lives, they're rules intended to target fraternities, which administrators hate. There are other factors at issue, insurance and liability being major ones, but in the end you've got a rule making entity which is culturally opposed to pretty much everything about fraternities.

Hence, you get an uproar about one death while multiple other drinking-related student deaths will pass without any outcry (because they're not greek).

This goes beyond college campuses. America's puritanical view of alcohol is also to blame. I was checking out of wal mart a few months ago and my 13 year old was helping me load groceries on the belt. She put a 6 pack of beer on the belt and I thought the cashier was going to have me arrested. She said she is not allowed to touch the alcohol and that she would go ahead and allow me to check out this time. WTF?!