Spring Break
The culture of consumption
Marissa Lang
Issue date: 12/15/08 Section: News
[Editor's note: The last names of several students interviewed for this story are withheld because they share their experiences drinking underage.]
It's the last Friday night before finals week, and 20 or so glassy-eyed students are milling around outside Thirsty Turtle when a fight breaks out.
Josh, a 19-year-old visitor from Tennessee, falls to the floor after being thrown into a window. Shards of glass cascade to the ground around him as a police officer runs to break up the scuffle.
"Oh man, that's my friend," said Wade, a 19-year-old sophomore. "He can't get arrested, not tonight. He doesn't even have his own fake [ID]."
Josh, who was uninjured and allowed to leave once the fight was quieted and the glass swept up, said going out drinking is, and always has been, an integral part of the college experience.
April, a 19-year-old blonde smoking a cigarette outside of the Thirsty Turtle with a friend, agreed, adding that students, like herself, drink because they want to let loose and have fun.
"If you want to find alcohol, you're going to find alcohol," April said. "It's pretty easy to come by, and I know I drink because I feel freer. I can be more myself and have more fun - and there's nothing wrong with that. It's so not as big a problem as everyone makes it."
This culture of drinking, which students say goes hand-in-hand with college life, has come under intense scrutiny in recent months as a result of university President Dan Mote's and University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan's decision to sign onto the Amethyst Initiative - a petition that urges university administrators to examine binge drinking among college students and the effectiveness of the legal drinking age.
"Education and changing people's view is our best weapon on this," Mote said. "Because clearly the law isn't working."
The signers of the Amethyst Initiative have come under fire from various organizations and other universities, but most members of the campus community say they are proud of the university's attempt to do away with the taboo associated with alcohol.
It's the last Friday night before finals week, and 20 or so glassy-eyed students are milling around outside Thirsty Turtle when a fight breaks out.
Josh, a 19-year-old visitor from Tennessee, falls to the floor after being thrown into a window. Shards of glass cascade to the ground around him as a police officer runs to break up the scuffle.
"Oh man, that's my friend," said Wade, a 19-year-old sophomore. "He can't get arrested, not tonight. He doesn't even have his own fake [ID]."
Josh, who was uninjured and allowed to leave once the fight was quieted and the glass swept up, said going out drinking is, and always has been, an integral part of the college experience.
April, a 19-year-old blonde smoking a cigarette outside of the Thirsty Turtle with a friend, agreed, adding that students, like herself, drink because they want to let loose and have fun.
"If you want to find alcohol, you're going to find alcohol," April said. "It's pretty easy to come by, and I know I drink because I feel freer. I can be more myself and have more fun - and there's nothing wrong with that. It's so not as big a problem as everyone makes it."
This culture of drinking, which students say goes hand-in-hand with college life, has come under intense scrutiny in recent months as a result of university President Dan Mote's and University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan's decision to sign onto the Amethyst Initiative - a petition that urges university administrators to examine binge drinking among college students and the effectiveness of the legal drinking age.
"Education and changing people's view is our best weapon on this," Mote said. "Because clearly the law isn't working."
The signers of the Amethyst Initiative have come under fire from various organizations and other universities, but most members of the campus community say they are proud of the university's attempt to do away with the taboo associated with alcohol.
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