GUEST COLUMNIST: Lessons learned in the Garden of Eden

Penn students possess the brain power and common sense to make independent adult decisions without the intervention of the administration's official stamp of approval. It's simply a question of empowering yourself by exercising your good judgment. I know you can do it, I have faith. I have seen you make responsible decisions by walking home in groups late at night and refusing to buy your buddy "one last beer" that you know he or she doesn't really need. College is a learning experience. Sometimes we learn the hard way, through our mistakes and bad decisions. But I've always been a fan of the belief that if you're learning from your mistakes, you're doing OK. However, some students' poor decisions have served as a lesson for everyone on campus. Their decisions cannot be reversed or changed nor their lesson learned privately. However, it is how the campus as a whole responds to the severity of these incidents that is important. For the student body, it should mean an increased awareness of alcohol consumption and reflection of their personal responsibility as a drinker. I don't think that's unreasonable. However, I don't agree with the way the University is handling the situation and making decisions for students. The administration has an obligation to deal with its student populace as adults. When it takes a parental role of "punishing" the entire population for the poor judgment of a select few, it robs students of their independence and takes their responsibility in its own hands. I will be the first to admit that where student safety is concerned, the University must step in. However, with the exception of alumnus Michael Tobin's tragic death, the other incidents concerning underage drinking and alcohol abuse are not new. What should be new is the administration's approach to the problem. A basic tenet of psychology is that when people are told not to do something, they will rebel and do it to excess. The University should not be banning alcohol by mandating a dry campus. Alcohol will become a coveted and covert accessory to any event. Instead, the administration should be working with students and building up a knowledge base about alcohol consumption, its effects and its limits. These incidents should not divide the student body from its administration but bring them together as a team to ensure that alcohol can be consumed safely and moderately at registered undergraduate functions. If we work together for a common goal, we are much less likely to see the rebellion and reckless drinking that will certainly ensue in the atmosphere of a dry campus. Give students the respect and responsibility of adults by collaborating with them to formulate a plan to handle the alcohol problem, rather than combatting it. A dry campus will only make alcohol the forbidden fruit of Penn. If Adam and Eve defied God, why won't a Penn student test the limits of our own little Eden?