LETTERS-YOUR VIEW: Blaming the establishment

To the Editor: I suppose it is Carroll's job to protect the interests of the fraternity-sorority system, but surely something is missing here: what about the responsibility of the underage students (some of whom may have been sorority members) who lied about their age and went in to a bar to drink even though they knew they were underage? It almost looks to me as if Carroll is condoning underage students drinking in bars as long as they can fake their way into the bars. After they get in, well, it's the "establishment's responsibility" and not theirs. Roger Harman Co-owner Palladium Restaurant What makes a victim? To the Editor: I am writing to challenge the appropriateness of the use of the word "victim" in The Daily Pennsylvanian's article on a student drinking to excess and being hospitalizated ("Alcohol sends Ware freshman to hospital," 3/22/99). The story describes a semi-conscious female freshman who needed to be rehydrated in the emergency room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania because of alcohol ingestion. Twice she is described as a "victim." I ask the DP to please consider the message that this usage of the word "victim" gives. Does the paper really not hold this person accountable for her decision to drink? Does the paper think that she was forced into ingest alcohol by co-partygoers? May I again suggest other terms such as "inebriated student," "semi-conscious student," "the student who did not understand appropriate behavior" or "the student who ignored warnings of the side effects of high alcohol level." Please think about this issue. I want to believe that the DP supports student's being responsible for their own behavior. I am, however, beginning to wonder. Regina Oliver Nursing '98 Nursing Grad '99