Underage drinking.

Today in the Sate News, a letter to the editor about underage drinking. While I agree that students need to recognize the negative effects of alcohol abuse, I disagree with the writer's (Anupama Sridaran) main points.

Anupama makes the suggestion that the university should have more events that offer alternatives to drinking, but I wonder what else there is to do? We are a Big Ten school with many Big Ten sports games to watch (although some see these as just reason to drink). The University Activities Board (UAB) offers events nearly every weekend. As a frequent attendee of UAb events, I wonder why more students don't take advantage of them. UAB also has Wells Hall movies. The Reisdence Hall Association (RHA) has movie rental offices in all the dorm complexes. MSU has three intramural sports centers. These are all on top of residence hall specific progams and activities. What more activities does MSU need to provide?

The real issue here is that for whatever reason, some students choose to drink their weekends away instead of a doing an alternative activity.

Anupama disagrees with the Amethyst Initiative, claiming that it will result in more violations and negative alcohol-related situations.

Again, I disagree. The most significant early effect of a lowered drinking age would be transparency. We could end the days when dorm residents' door are open Sunday through Wednesday, but are "inexplicably" close and locked Thursday night through Saturday night.


We also must realize the impact of underage drinking on the local economy. Imagine the losses resturants on Grand River would have if underage students stopped stumbling in an attempt to order one chicken nugget. Add to this the loss from underage students not drinking from the copious amounts of alchol sold each week, and we'd likely have an even emptier Grand River storefront than we have now.

Also don't forget court costs from those students th atget caught underage

I'm not advocating that every student get drunk every weekend. What I would like is transparency. A change in culture where it becomes cool to drink a beer while watching a movie instead of drinking ten at a party in an attempt to get the most of your $5. Maybe if we would all just end this minor prohibition and recognise the real issues it causes, we mightbe able to cause a change in culture.

Albers update

When I interviewed Bob Albers on the 3^rd floor of the communication arts and sciences building, I saw his personal passions reflected in the contents of his office.

On his door were pictures of different nature landscapes, ranging from ocean to desert. The pictures were clearly treated to emphasize the vastness of the ocean and the desolate desert with its rippled sands.

Photography has been a passion of Albers’ since his undergraduate days at Bellarmie University. It is from photography that his passion for visual storytelling developed.

As an instructor now, he carefully passes this information down to his students.

Rally

Horia Dijmarescu, a second year international relations student at Michigan State University, was the first to arrive at a rally to freeze tuition increases.

Over one thousand people were invited to protest in front of the Hannah Administration building from 2 P.M. to 5:15 P.M.

Less than ten protesters showed up as of 2:30 P.M., but Dijmarescu was hopeful that more would show up.

Dijimarescu co-founded the Michigan State University Accountability and Transparency Initiative, which was formed in reaction to the Associated Students of Michigan Sate University voting down a bill recommending a tuition freeze by a vote of 8-7.

 “That was not a decision representative of the university at large.  Most of us are struggling to pay tuition as it is.” Dijmarescu said.

University administration are set to vote one the increase Friday morning.  If the 8.9 percent tuition increase passes, in-state students will be paying about $913 more per semester, while out-of-state students will be paying $2,289 more per semester.