It seems like a weird dynamic that exists there, in that many seem to acknowledge that binge drinking is a huge problem, but there's really not much the administration can do about it, due to the backlash from alumni. That may be because the alumni like to drink at the games and such, but they also might look back on those years fondly. It seems that at least some of them have gone on to do pretty successful things in life, if they have that much money to give to Penn State, so how much of an effect does this binge drinking really have on people? As Drew said, it's a short and special time that doesn't last long. And many of the great writers we know of were alcoholics or drug attics. On TV, too, we see portrayals of brilliant people who have weird drug and alcohol habits (although I admit the only one I can think of is Dr. House). The deaths that are reported are terrible, of course. But it actually surprised me that there weren't more on the campus itself, given that the circumstances described seemed so dangerous.

I don't really know what I'm saying. I do think that the reporters neglected an entire part of the story, which is the 25 percent of Penn State students that don't drink. While the average student is out partying most nights, that statistic suggests that there are others who are in their dorms, studying. Not one of them was interviewed (except for that guy who had formerly been in a fraternity). And I think this gave me a more negative impression of the university than I should have had; after the episode, it seemed to me that basically any student on any given night was off getting drunk and causing trouble. But it's pretty bad, nevertheless.

I still wonder whether it's right to think that this is okay, that it's just a short time in a person's life that they'll never be able to have back. By that same token, the other side could be wrong, too. I'm sure the same administrator who is trying to curb drinking had his share of drunk experiences in college (he did go to Penn State, right?) Maybe there's a happy medium? I'm really not sure.