The alcohol-induced deaths of two university students this fall has focused national attention on campus drinking. Tech came close to jumping into the spotlight a week ago, when a student was taken to the hospital and treated for alcohol poisoning after what appears to be an off-campus fraternity hazing incident.
Anyone who is familiar with Tech's party scene knows that excessive drinking--legal and underaged--is not uncommon, and that its extent is not limited to the fraternities. This is rather incongruous with the alcohol policy here, which is extensive and harsh. Its preamble states that "Georgia Tech will take the necessary steps to comply with all federal, state, and local laws and policies... on the abuse of alcolol and drugs by its students." A visit to the campus on a Friday night would tend to belie these words.
It is a basic rule of government that laws which are not enforced will be scoffed into oblivion. Authority can only be undermined when double standards exist.
Some laws are clearly unenforcable, and any easily available high-demand product will be obtained and consumed by some percentage of the population,no matter what our laws say. Nevertheless, it is important for officials to back up policy with enforcement. It would only take a small number of police busts to serve notice that the administration stands ready to enforce its own rules. The message to students needs to be substantially less ambiguous than it is now. Stronger enforcement could very well provide the impetus for more responsible individual and corporate behavior.
