<p>Flexibility and tolerance. How much of that do you need to deal with drunks making a ruckus late at night or puke in the bathrooms from Friday night until the unfortunate housekeeping staff deals with it on Monday?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, heavy drinking and drugs seem to be the norm on many campuses. You will also find a growing number of colleges that have taken action. I agree you will not necessarily understand the college culture during a quick tour. Some were so bad that even the quick tour was enough to provide a good understanding. In most cases, it is necessary to spend much longer, including visits on nights and weekend nights.</p>
<p>There are alcohol and drugs on every campus but some have taken actions to keep these in check. Some actions can include: training the RA staff and dealing with alcohol in the dorms, disciplinary actions including suspensions for infractions, working with off campus landlords and police to deal with off campus parties and sales to minors.</p>
<p>I think those things are actually minor. The big problem is that 18 year olds are peer conscious and trying to fit into society. If the vast majority of activities involve drinking, parties or drugs, it is difficult to be one of the few non-conformists and social misfits. It is much better to select a more acceptable environment. Kids and parents act like victims of the college admissions process. We are the consumers and it is past time to exert some influence.</p>
<p>Bingo. That’s why including binge drinking rates in the USNEWS ranking formula would send colleges scurrying like cockaroaches.</p>
<p>Actually, my sense from College Confidential (admittedly a bizarre sample) is that there is an increasing number of college applicants who specifically don’t want the Animal House scene. I think that trend can be seen in the increasing demand for sub-free housing and the increases in college non-drinkers.</p>
<p>I’m a little surprised that the low binge-drinking rate colleges don’t “tout” it more heavily. The problem, I think, is how to present a 30% binge drinking rate as low to an audience that may not be familar with the national averages and without comparative data from peer colleges.</p>
<p>Clearly college administrators understand that a party image can hurt admissions among the most academically qualified students. For example, Washington & Lee is making a desperate (and probably futile) attempt to change the perception of the school as the #1 school for drunks in the LAC world. Likewise, Davidson’s president explained his decision to not allow sororities on the basis of research showing that the presense of sororities is viewed as a negative to highly-qualified academic female consumers nationally.</p>
<p>“I’m a little surprised that the low binge-drinking rate colleges don’t “tout” it more heavily.”</p>
<p>See my previous question about how these arbitrary low binge-drinking rate designations are made. A student survey is just that. A random unscientific compilation of data that may or may not reflect reality.</p>
<p>How do these low binge rate drinking colleges compare to high drug-use rate colleges, high “alternate lifestyle” rate colleges, high percentage of right winged wacko rate colleges, or left winged liberal rate colleges, or highly sexually promiscuous rate colleges, or high suicidal rate colleges, or high criminal producers, etc. etc. etc. ???</p>
<p>^ Original quote: “Likewise, Davidson’s president explained his decision to not allow sororities on the basis of research showing that the presense of sororities is viewed as a negative to highly-qualified academic female consumers nationally.”</p>
<p>This states that Davidson president viewed sororirties as a negative for consumers nationally. There was no inference to suggest that he was only looking at primary admission competitors to Davidson!</p>
<p>I think Barrons comment regarding Stanford was very valid.</p>
<p>BTW, I believe that my daughter’s college, Swarthmore, loses very strong applicants who strike the school off their lists for the simple reason that it has two fraternities. A closer look would suggest that the school probably has the most non-frat campus culture you could find. But, many college lists are culled based on simple Boolian searches: Greek or no-Greek.</p>
<p>He would be far from the first school president to use some phony pretext to express his dislike of Greeks. Many are at better schools than Davidson.</p>
<p>“This week about one in five freshman girls will take part in the contested Sorority Rush, which the university administration adamantly opposes. The debate about Greek life at Princeton is fiercer than ever this academic year, after President Tilghman sent a letter this summer to the Class of 2008 discouraging them from joining Greek organizations on campus.”</p>
<p>It’ll all be moot a decade or so from now. The liability insurance to cover the binge drinking and alcohol poisoning deaths associated with frat hazing will dry up and that will be that.</p>
<p>It’s already at a point where the sole function of the national organizations is “risk management” dictated by the remaining insurers. Yet, none of that is changing the underlying behaviors.</p>
<p>I’m not so sure. A large number of the alcohol-related deaths at colleges and universities are not frat-related. They are ALWAYS settled out of court, for very large sums - I haven’t heard of a case against a university going to trial in two decades. The frats provide a small measure of insulation for the universities themselves. If anything, frats provide a university a chance to “act tough” by suspending charters for a year, etc., without having to take any ongoing responsibility for campus culture.</p>
<p>Mini, I agree that colleges like using the frats as a liability shield. </p>
<p>It’ll be the cost of liability coverage for the national frats themselves that eventually brings them down. The slap on the wrist charges filed recently against the frat leaders in the UT-Austin alcohol deaths are part of a slippery slope.</p>
<p>“A large number of the alcohol-related deaths at colleges and universities are not frat-related.”</p>
<p>EXACTLY ! If the Greeks go away, so doth all the alcohol ? I don’t think so.
My guess is that there would be no difference at all in the amount of alcohol consumed by this age group, whether in college or not.</p>
<p>qwilde is 100% on target. Lower the drinking age back to 18, which takes away the majority of sneaking aroung between the ages of 18-20. Kids will still have fake id’s at ages 15-17, but to many kids the thrill will be gone so much sooner. Also, the club scene for kids to watch bands and comedians will re-open for them so they don’t have to wander around looking for “safe houses” to get drunk.</p>
<p>"When asked about the Times article, Soglin read a quote that began, “‘The townspeople are fed up with the students and their constant carousing.’ . . . That’s from Bologna (Italy) in the 16th century”</p>
<p>Former mayor of Madison responding to an article in the NYT about Madison concerning the new downtown condo residents complaining about the students.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that son’s school doesn’t have drinking problems–I know that it does, just like most others. However, I recently found out about some policies (and found out that they are enforced) that may help to curtail some of the wildness. </p>
<p>Son is planning to move off campus for next year. When we were reviewing what he needed to do in order to get permission for this we found out that living off campus is a priviledge. Student must have landlord sign agreement with school that if student causes any problem (my word) such as noise, underage drinking, parking complaints, etc.–the school will be notified and the student will be required to move back on campus.</p>