Valley universities stay out of 'alcohol' debate

The Rio Grande Valley's two universities are so far staying out of the debate whether lawmakers should lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18 years old.

But deans of the University of Texas-Pan American and the University of Brownsville/Texas Southmost College said they would study the issue and form an opinion if asked to by their students.

Presidents from about 100 colleges and universities throughout the country have signed a petition urging the government to consider lowering the drinking age because they believe current laws encourage binge drinking.

The Amethyst Initiative, which was spearheaded by Middlebury College in Vermont, has been soliciting signatures from college presidents throughout the summer.

Other schools that have signed up include Colgate University, Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University and West Texas A&M University.

The initiative's efforts have drawn criticism from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and some researchers who said lowering the legal drinking age would cause more people to die in drunken driving-related crashes.

According to the initiative's Web site, the current laws cause underage students to get involved in "dangerous, clandestine" binge drinking, usually off-campus.

"Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students," according to the group's Web site. "Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer."

No one from the Amethyst Initiative or any other group has approached the Valley universities about joining the campaign, according to those universities' deans of students.

Even if the universities were asked to join, the deans said they don't see how allowing younger people drink alcohol will help curb binge drinking.

"We know historically if we lowered (the drinking age) we'd see more drinking and driving (and) an additional 900 people (per year) dying nationwide," said Jeanette Broshears, UTPA's interim dean of students and a former substance abuse counselor.

She is referring to the statistic put out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which says that about 900 lives are saved each year by having the drinking age set at 21 rather than 18.

The administration conducted studies after the federal government decided to cut transportation funding to states that did not raise the drinking age to 21 in 1984 and estimated that the number of fatalities from drunken driving crashes was reduced by about 900 people a year.

"Is it worth 900 deaths ... I'm not convinced this is going to fix everything," she said.
But the local universities haven't heard anything from their students either about the issue. The deans said they're not surprised by that.

Both institutions are commuter schools and have older students who are balancing work and families with school. A survey UTPA took of its students last year found that most do not drink excessively or drink at all, Broshears said.

"Our students don't have the same issues (as those who attend the universities that have joined the initiative)," she said. "Drinking is not as big of an issue."

UTPA sophomore Raul Espinoza, and junior Christian Umaña, both 19, said many underage people in the Valley who want to drink alcohol go to Mexico because they won't be carded and the drinks are cheaper there. But they have opposing views on whether the legal age in the United States should be changed.

"I think it would be a great idea," Umaña said. "As it is there's a lot of underage drinking. If you can smoke a cigarette, one cigarette is the same as one beer (in terms of damaging health)."

Espinoza, however, thinks the drinking age should remain at 21.

"(Some) people start drinking at 15. If you lower the age to 18 younger people are probably going to start," Espinoza said.  
Espinoza isn't the only student who thinks lowering the age would be a bad idea.

"I think if you changed it, it would encourage young people to drink more," said UTB/TSC student Maria Hernandez, who at 20 said she's been drinking since age 15. "It's scary now -I think about what could have happened to me at that age. I don't think I was ready yet."

Like Hernandez, Santiago Perez, also 20, first experimented with alcohol in Matamoros.

"To be honest, you start drinking even before 18," he said, saying he likely began drinking in the seventh grade.
Perez admits that nearly all of his friends disregarded the legal drinking age, but believes it still provides an impediment to an even more dangerous drinking culture.

"As much as it would seem cool to lower the age to 18, I think it would just make it easier for people to buy liquor," he said.
Although he graduated just two years ago, Perez remembers himself as a more responsible drinker than high school students today.

"I'm not saying we weren't dumb," Perez said, "but when we had parties, we'd all just stay over at that person's house. Now everyone drinks and drives."

Nursing student Erica Robles said there is a possibility that changing the age would normalize drinking, and reduce binge-drinking, but she still thinks 18-year-olds are not mature enough to make good decisions when they're under the influence.
"I might have done it, but if it were my child, I wouldn't want that," she said.