Today’s news links: Nov. 24, 2008
Word on the Street is especially newsworthy today, with comments abut dissatisfaction with American Water Company, candidates for the 4th District City Council and Peoria’s lack of clout in the state legislature.
Some 60-plus people got ticketed for alcohol-related violations at house near Bradley University this weekend. Most of them were BU students and many of them were student athletes. My two cents: Bradley University is no different that any other colleges, including the one I attended in the 1980s. There is a culture that encourages binge drinking. I think serious thought needs to be giving to lowering the drinking age to 18, or even 16. It would remove the aura around it, make it less of a rite of passage, and it would allow for students to take their first drinks of alcohol under adult supervision without making criminals of the adults.
Here is a list of those ticketed.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am
So lowering the drinking age magically makes people more responsible?
November 24th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Part of what drives young folks to binge drink is the ‘danger’ of getting caught. When people turn 21, a large part of the ‘fun’ disappears. It did with my peers and myself. We started to look for more sophisticated venues and tried to get away from more of the idiots.
When Americans are contrasted with Europeans (who have lower drinking ages) and you look at who they have their first experiences with alcohol are, you find that Europeans are far more likely to have their first experiences with a parent or a grandparent and NOT their peers. Americans of course are more likely to have their first experiences with those their own age, who are likely to be just as immature in their behaviors. So… Europeans have far fewer instances of binge drinking among youths.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
WOTS, aside from the water issue, was just as lame as it ever is Billy. Especially the suggestion that Gordon is now the Peoria area pol with the most clout in Springfield??? That has to be one of the dumbest pieces of political analysis I’ve seen. A freshman rep at the age of 27 who is in the pocket to the state Democrat party to the tune of a few hundred thousand and a handful of labor unions has clout??? If anything she is the most owned pol in Springfield, and that’s saying a lot for that town.
They should really just hand the column over to John, they just don’t have the crew to split it between two reporters anymore.