The leaders of the institutions that are supposed to teach the leaders of tomorrow are finally starting to get it right.

A group of college presidents, known as Amethyst Initiative, is trying to lower the drinking age to 18, including presidents from Dartmouth, Ohio State, Tufts, Syracuse, and my alma mater, Colgate, hell yea! The group believes that a lowered drinking age will reduce binge drinking while MADD sights statistics to say that raising the drinking age lowered drunken driving deaths. It's hard to envision that stricter drunk driving laws, their enforcement and anti-drunk driving campaigns have not had an effect as well, otherwise MADD is sort of negating its own contributions since 1984.

I am against drunk driving, but suffice it to say, I'm with the Amethysts on this. Let the 18-year-olds drink.

There are many great reasons, aside from the obvious if they can vote, go to war, be tried as adults, buy smokes and make porn, they should be able to buy a beer argument. First off, the federal laws on the books only regulate the purchase or possession of alcohol and many states do not prohibit its consumption--easily circumvented by home brewing and the use of really long straws (assuming not holding onto something means you don't possess it). Then you have the fact that most college students have or even made fake IDs (thank you for having such crappy licenses New Jersey). These are more serious crimes that apart from the drinking aspect are associated with more illicit activities and terrorism. Of course, the main reason for the Amethyst Initiative is to cut down on binge drinking. As of now, underage people are forced to drink in hiding and private parties, rather than in bars and plain sight. By making drinking more public for college students, they will have to buy beer at bar prices, a feat few unemployed people can do and still manage to binge drink. As everyone knows, bars aren't nearly as cool when you take away the thrill of the illegality of being there, hence the death of speakeasies and the emergence of mechanical bulls, karaoke, and happy hour.

Then you also have to look at some of our nation's greatest drunks and all that they've accomplished. George W. Bush, Ted Kennedy, Johnny Cash, John Daly. Are these not the positions and stature that we wanted to have and emulate as children? Masters of sport, music, and politics, what parent wouldn't be proud to see their child attain all that these men have? (Not to mention, the fact that the founding fathers planted the seeds of the Revolution in the Ale House.) Now that the seeds have grown into the Barley of Freedom, we must not abandon its roots.

But in all fairness to compromise, why don't we lower the drinking and purchasing and possession age to 19 and make that the official age of being an adult? Why not raise the driving age to 19 too? It'd keep alcohol out of high schools a bit more than 18 would, and reckless teen driving would go down to boot. Imagine buying beer, smokes and skin mags for the first time before you vote and enlist: Best Birthday Ever.

Cheers!