Dorm Drinking

Last Fall there were 5 students around the age of 19 who died from alcohol poisoning. They were binge drinking, which, to the surprise of many people, only means drinking 5 “drinks” in an hour. If someone is “doing shots” it can be binge drinking in a very short amount of time. So many students get introduced to alcohol during their college years that many think it is a necessary rite of passage.

There has been a problem with drinking on college campuses for years, and some colleges have reacted by officially allowing no alcohol on campus. “Officially,” meaning that it wasn’t allowed but everyone knew that it still existed.

A story out of Albuquerque told about “The Lobo Village” which is the name of the new dormitories at the University of New Mexico. They are opening next month, and it was decided that students who are of legal age will be allowed to drink alcohol in their apartments.

Now, the building is supposed to be for upperclassmen and graduate students, but some of the students figure that there will be younger students either living there as roommates or at least hanging around.

The dorms on the main campus do not allow alcohol. The Lobo Village is considered to be part of the university housing but it is actually owned and managed by a Texas-based company called American Campus Communities. The alcohol will not be permitted in the common areas, but only in the personal apartments. It is expected that the staff at The Lobo Village will enforce these rules.

There is a Student and Family Housing unit on the south campus where alcohol is also allowed.

Students that were interviewed thought that this was only fair since those who are 21 and above are old enough to legally drink and they felt that their personal rights should not be infringed upon.

Opponents might point out that allowing it onto campus in one location is likely to encourage it to spread to other locations or end up including minors. Hopefully the staff will be able to keep the minors at a distance from the booze.