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Bars, Students Should be Thankful

Note: A Letter to the Editor of the Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 3, 2013, was inadvertently not reproduced in FromDC2Iowa at the time and so has been added now, March 5, 2017.

Bars, Students Should Be Thankful
Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 3, 2013, p. A8

Bars are in the business of profiting from the sale of alcohol. Those under 21 are legally prohibited from buying, possessing, or consuming alcohol. The most logical and easily administered standard would be to keep those under 21 from entering bars, as is done elsewhere.

Instead, Iowa City enables bar owners to profit maximize, and those who cannot legally purchase alcohol to be in their bars 20 hours a day. They are excluded only from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. It's scarcely "21-only."

Our City Council's approach is exceedingly generous to bar owners and their student customers alike, something for which they should be grateful rather than protesting.

To keep the underage, 20-hours-a-day bar access, you vote "No." To repeal it you vote "Yes." So voters may be confused. They may not even vote. But few are undecided.

So why write more?

Because there are a couple of really bizarre bits of rhetoric the controversy has inspired that need examination.

One is that people who are legally precluded from purchasing what a business is selling are deprived of their "human rights" if they are kept out of such establishments for the four hours each day when they cause the most mischief.

There are all kinds of laws restricting those underage from, among other things, getting married, driving cars, buying guns, performing in porn videos, purchasing cigarettes -- and yes, alcohol. Never, before now, has any been considered a human-rights violation.

The other is that because the drinking age should be 18, rather than 21, therefore it's OK for underage students to violatre the law and drink alcohol. I follow that argument "all but the 'therefore.'"

Until they persuade the Legislature of their position, (1) keeping those under 21 out of bars is logical, (2) permitting them in bars until 10 p.m. is generous, and (3) leaving them there until 2 a.m. is just asking for trouble -- the trouble we got the last time we tried it.

See, "Underage Drinking As Human Right? I Don't Think So," and links.

Nicholas Johnson
Iowa City

# # #

Iowans Keep Alcohol Flowing

November 19, 2014, 3:30 p.m.

Taking a Look at the Numbers
With the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, 80th Annual Report (2014), this may be a good time to take a look at Iowans' drinking habits. (And see Rod Boshart, "Alcohol sales in Iowa leveling off but still record," The Gazette, November 19, 2014.)

While some argue it's time to call off our war on drugs, Ethan Nadelmann, "Why We Need to End the War on Drugs," TED Talks, October 2014, others suggest we need to reexamine our peace treaty with alcohol.

One is reminded of the story of the father who, when told that his son and friends were nearly killed in a drunk driving accident responded, "Oh, thank goodness they weren't using drugs."

Alcohol is, by almost every measure, far and away our nation's number one hard drug. It is involved in roughly half of all sexual assaults and other violent crimes, a problem for roughly half of all our prison population, the cause of billions of dollars in losses to businesses and taxpayers, with an adverse impact on millions of children, other family members, and fellow employees.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports in its "Alcohol Facts and Statistics" that 56% of Americans over 18 reported consuming alcohol during the past month, and 25% reported binge drinking (the source of 75% of the $223 billion annual loss from alcohol misuse, including 40% of aggressive incidents, 22% of police time, and 13% of employee sick days). The third leading preventable causes of death are alcohol-related (6% of all global deaths, or 3.3 million persons; 40% of traffic-related deaths). Alcohol has been identified as a risk factor for cancers of the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, liver, and breast. Those affected by others' alcohol misuse include millions of family members and fellow workers; 10% of children live with a parent with alcohol problems.

As those of us associated with universities and colleges know, alcohol creates special problems for students. For example, among those 18-22 years old, 60% of college students, but only 52% of those not in college, drank alcohol during the past month. (Binge drinking is reported by 40% and 35% respectively.) [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson.]

Researchers estimate that each year: 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes; 696,000 students are assaulted by a drunken student, including 97,000 students who report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. About 1 in 4 report academic consequences from drinking, including missing class, falling behind in class, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall.

So just how much are Iowans drinking?

According to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, 80th Annual Report (2014) there are 2,178,145 Iowans of legal drinking age (over 21).

How should we calculate "a drink"? For consistency, we'll use the definition of a "standard drink" provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is the average content of 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. "What Is a Standard Drink?" National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The Iowa agency reports our alcohol consumption in gallons: 74,910,545 gallons of beer, 5,019,618 gallons of hard liquor, and 4,382,755 gallons of wine. Since it also reports there are 2,178,145 Iowans of legal drinking age (over 21), that means our per capita consumption per year (in gallons) is 34.39 gallons of beer, 2.30 of hard liquor, and 2.01 of wine. [Photo credit: lionsdenu.com.]

Since most of us don't even drink water a gallon at a time, let lone alcohol, here it is in "standard drinks" consumed annually by each of us (on average): 366 bottles of beer, 196 shots of 80-proof liquor, and 51 glasses of wine. (Johnson County, with 93,581 legal drinkers is consuming 250 shots a year per capita, and is probably substantially above the state average for beer as well, especially if the illegal consumption by students could be counted.)

What should one conclude from these numbers? It's hard to say. There are skirmishes around the drinking age -- whether it should be 21 or 18 -- but there is no longer any pressure for prohibition. The stats indicate that we're consuming a lot of alcohol (certainly by my personal standards), especially when one considers that roughly one-third of all Americans don't drink at all. And we're suffering our share of the consequences in violence, prison and hospital admissions, economic losses, and other aspects of a boozing lifestyle. On the other hand, Iowa is 23rd among all the 50 states in per capital consumption -- for any who find the comparison comforting.

Nonetheless, for a state that's having difficulty even approving medical marijuana, let alone substituting treatment for prison for all recreational drug use, it's long past time we treated alcohol as the nation's number one hard drug that it is. We can do better -- for our health, for our young people, and for our taxpayers.

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Underage Drinking As Human Right? I Don't Think So

October 16, 2013, 3:25 p.m.

Why Bar Owners, Students, Should Embrace Iowa City's 21 Law
This morning's Daily Iowan carries an opinion piece arguing that those whom the law forbids to consume alcohol at any time (those under 21) have been denied their human rights by the Iowa City Ordinance forbidding them to be in places of business, the sole purpose of which is to profit from the sale of alcohol, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. Blake Whitten, "21-Ordinance Violates Human Rights," The Daily Iowan, Oct. 16, 2013, p. A4. It is reproduced in full at the bottom of this blog essay.

Those urging repeal of the so-called "21" ordinance come at their efforts at arguments for doing so from a variety of directions. I have already addressed the argument that goes, "because the drinking age should be 18 rather than 21, therefore, those under the age of 21 should be permitted to be in bars between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m." (even though, I would add, for them to drink during those hours is a clear violation of law). "Deeth's Drinking Age: A Reply; 21 -- 'Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law,'" October 6, 2013. [Photo credit: lionsdenu.com.]

The following was added by me as a comment to the online version of this morning's Daily Iowan column that attempted to argue why the 21 ordinance is a violation of students' "human rights." It was subsequently published by the Daily Iowan as "Letters to the Editor/Online Comments."

Re: 21-Ordinance is Human-Rights Violation
Nicholas Johnson
The Daily Iowan
October 17, 2013, p. A4

There are all kinds of age-based laws and regulations restricting those underage from, among other things, getting married, driving cars, buying guns, performing in porn videos, purchasing cigarettes -- and yes, alcohol. None is considered a human rights violation. See, "Deeth's Drinking Age: A Reply," http://fromdc2iowa.blogspot.com/2013/10/deeths-drinking-age-reply.html

Bars are in the business of profiting from the sale of alcohol. Those under 21 are legally prohibited from buying, possessing or consuming alcohol. The logical, and most easily administered, standard would be to prohibit anyone under 21 from ever entering a bar -- as is the standard in many places.

Instead, Iowa City lives with a compromise that enables bar owners to profit maximize, and those who cannot legally purchase what they have to sell to be in bars for 20 out of every 24 hours each day. Those under 21 are only kept out of bars from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. It's scarcely "21-only"!

It seems to me the City Council's approach is exceedingly generous to bar owners and their illegally binge drinking students alike, not something either should be protesting.

And since the author raised the "no one over 50 in bars after 10" example, nor is it a denial of my human rights as an old geezer that I have to get my driver's license renewed more often than my middle-aged children do. Someday it may be forcefully taken from me. The state has a right to determine if my driving puts at risk my own safety and that of others.

As John Neff has noted in a comment on the blog essay linked above, "The age dependence of hazardous use of alcohol decreases much faster than a Constant/Age with most of the problems in the 15 to 25 age range. The peak age is about 19, so 21 is a reasonable compromise for the minimum legal age to drink." In short, that's why the legal drinking age is 21. It, like limitations on my driving, is designed to minimize the risk of harm underage drinkers pose to themselves and others.

Meanwhile, 21 remains the legal drinking age. John Deeth has endeavored (earlier on these pages and elsewhere) to make the case for lowering the drinking age to 18. But until he persuades the Congress and Iowa Legislature of his position, (1) keeping those under 21 out of bars is logical, (2) permitting them in bars until 10 p.m. is generous, and (3) leaving them there until 2 a.m. is just asking for trouble -- the trouble we got the last time we tried.

Here is the Daily Iowan opinion piece to which the above is a response:

21-Ordinance Violates Human Rights
Blake Whitten
The Daily Iowan, October 16, 2013, p. A4.
Imagine that we’re debating a law that reads:

“No person, individual, association, corporation, partnership, or club holding a liquor-control license, wine, or beer permit, which authorizes on-the-premises consumption, nor his or her agents or employees shall allow a person who is 50 years or older to enter or remain in the licensed or permitted establishment between the hours of 10 p.m. and closing.”

Of course, restricting the legal right of older citizens to freely associate is ludicrous, outrageous, and completely unacceptable. As fair-minded Iowans, we wouldn’t stand for such a law, however benevolent the reasons advanced by the law’s proponents and regardless of how many community leaders endorsed it. [Photo credit: San-Antonio-Daily.com.]

Replace the words “is 50 years or older” with “who has not yet attained the legal age,” and you have the 21 bar-entry ordinance.

But is discriminating against a younger demographic of Iowa City citizens really the moral equivalent of discriminating against older citizens? Apparently so, according to Iowa City’s own human-rights ordinance enshrined in the city code:

“It shall be unlawful for any person to deny any other person the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages of any place of public accommodation because of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.”

Apparently staff brought this conflict to the attention of the city recently. In true Orwellian fashion, the council has decided to redefine human rights to specifically exclude the 21-ordinance as a human-rights violation. Poof. Age no longer matters.

City councilors chose a path of political expedience and hypocrisy. But what about the rest of us, those who don’t have political careers to protect or the need to publicly save face? Do we fold human rights neatly into a box that we call the law, or do the inalienable nature of such rights impel us to reconsider the law itself?

I wish that Sally Mason understood the irony that each time she extols the “nanny state” by promoting the 21-ordinance in a speech to the student council or in a press interview, she actually works against instructors who demand personal responsibility, hard work, and academic excellence in the classroom. Students rightly perceive the hypocrisy of the mixed message between rights and responsibilities: “Study hard, but be home in bed by 10 o’clock.”

One issue rarely mentioned is the example we’re setting for our ever-growing contingent of international students, many of whom hail from countries whose governments are considered less than democratic. These students are watching: Is America still the land of the free and the home of the brave? Are vulnerable minorities (in this case, young adults) treated with dignity and respect?

I call on students to vote YES on Public Measure G to affirm that you matter. (It’s especially easy for in-state and out-of-state students to register and vote early at campus locations before Oct. 25.)

Vote YES for your fellow students’ dignity and self-respect. Vote YES to show your international colleagues (international students) that the American dreams of freedom and equality are alive and well, right here in Iowa City.

Much has been debated about safety. The consensus seems to be that downtown is quieter but that house parties are better attended since 2010. But if the goal is a quiet downtown at the expense of freedom, then let’s be fair about it by passing a curfew that forbids everyone from being downtown after 10 p.m. Short of that, and in the great Iowan tradition of grace and fair play, let’s remove the human-rights violation known as the 21-ordinance. Vote yes on Public Measure G.

Blake Whitten is a lecturer in the Department of Economics and the Department of Statistics.

Deeth's Drinking Age: A Reply

October 6, 2013 10:30 a.m.

21 -- "Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law"
Reluctantly, I must part company with John Deeth -- for whom I have enormous respect when it comes to his political work and judgment -- on the matter of underage drinking. (His original column, and his response to this blog essay, appear below in their entirety.)

There is a long list of reasons why.

A drinking age of 18 is something that he and a great many others support -- including those whose motto is "Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike." [Photo credit: Nicholas Johnson.]

Teach Children Respect for Law: Follow It or Lobby to Change It. So far as I'm concerned, those who would like to change the law are welcome to try. It is not my purpose on this occasion to make arguments for, or against, reducing the legal drinking age to 18. Thus, assertions such as, "If you're old enough to fight a war, you should be old enough to have a beer," are irrelevant. From my perspective, arguments for changing the law are unpersuasive as reasons for violating the law.

Perhaps it is the lawyer in me, but I think it is irresponsible, and poor parenting, to tell our children, as John Deeth writes, that "It's tacitly OK to start drinking in your late teens, as long as you don't get caught." Kids have enough inclination as it is to be bound by no higher moral and ethical standards than whatever is required to avoid getting caught. Are there any laws, regulations, or religious values that John believes one should comply with, whether or not one will get caught? If so, he has failed to provide us his standard by which we might figure out what they are. From this perspective, young men might also be advised, as some seem to believe without the advice, that "It is tacitly OK to start raping in your late teens, as long as you don't get caught."

It's Not True "You Can Only Learn From Experience." I am similarly troubled with his unqualified assertion that "you can only learn from experience." Does he really believe that the only way young college women can only learn of the possibility of pregnancy from drunken, unprotected and unwanted sex is to become pregnant? The only place students can learn of the risks of toxic blood alcohol levels is in an emergency room? The only way they can learn of the possibilities of killing friends and themselves in auto accidents while driving drunk is by doing so?

I thought the human species had options. I thought one of them was K-12 and college education. What a multi-billion-dollar waste education turns out to be if "you can only learn from experience." (And see the comment on this blog from "Anonymous," below, a 21-year-old who seems to have found other paths than "experience" to knowledge regarding alcohol.)

Our "21 Only" is Neither "21" Nor "Only" -- It is a Compromise, and One Bar Owners Should Embrace. From the standpoint of the law, and common sense, what we call in Iowa City a "21-only" law is far from what its name suggests. It is a very generous compromise between what the law might require, and John's "18-only" position, one that ought to be gratefully grabbed by him, bar owners and students seeking the nation's "Number One Party School," rather than being opposed by them.

"Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" head writer Mason Williams' multiple talents include a knack for one-liners, one of which is: "Here's a ball; don't bounce it."

Think about it. The law forbids those under 21 from purchasing, possessing, dispensing, or consuming alcohol. Bars are business establishments designed to maximize income from the sale of alcohol. That's not to say that nothing else goes on there, or that no one enters a bar except for those whose sole purpose is the consumption of alcohol. It is only to say that sales of alcohol are bars' exclusive business purpose and source of profit. Clearly, any activity that would substantially reduce profits would probably not be permitted to continue for long.

The common sense approach, and the law in many jurisdictions, would be to forbid anyone to enter a bar who cannot legally engage as a customer in the business in which that bar is engaged. That would be "21 Only" -- only those 21 or older would be permitted in bars.

Our "restriction," by contrast, only prevents underage students from being in bars for four hours a day: from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. They can go into bars during the early morning hours (when bars are open on game days), they can go in throughout the day, they can go in at night until 10:00. Whatever one can say of such a law, it is clearly not "21 Only."

So why do bar owners and some students want underage students in bars between 10:00 and 2:00? Because underage students want to drink alcohol then (in the many ways they find to do so), and the bar owners want the profits.

Just as it is not my purpose to make arguments why the drinking age should be kept at 21, rather than lowered to 18, similarly I am not making an argument for keeping (or repealing) the law that forbids underage students to be in bars after 10:00 p.m.

All I am pointing out is that our out-by-10 law is not "21 Only," as it permits underage students to be in bars 20 out of every 24 hours a day. This standard seems to me a quite reasonable compromise between keeping them out entirely, and letting them drink 24/7.

We Have Already Separated the 'Alcohol Abuse' and 'Underage Drinking' Issues. John Deeth writes that we need to, "separate the 'alcohol abuse' issue from the 'underage drinking' issue." Aside from the PAULA-only violations (possession of alcohol under the legal age), and even for most of those, it seems to me that what Iowa City police are already doing is precisely what Deeth is proposing.

John says we must "recognize the rights and wishes of young adults." He seems to be trying to turn a violation of law into a "right." Even if there was a "right" to violate this law (underage drinking), hopefully even John Deeth would acknowledge that there are no rights to violate the laws that are violated as a consequence of underage drinking: driving over the 0.08 blood alcohol level, rape, fights, property damage, public urination, and other behavior of the young inebriated. See, "'GO, HAWKS!' -- Just Not in My Yard."

It's relatively unlikely in Iowa City -- not impossible, but relatively unlikely -- that any underage students who have consumed modest amounts of alcohol will be arrested, if they are otherwise behaving as rational, sober adults, they are not walking around with open containers, and they are not engaged in other varieties of law violations or obnoxious behavior.
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"Separate Alcohol Abuse and 'Underage' Issues"
John Deeth
Iowa City Press-Citizen
October 6, 2013, p. A6
America has a dysfunctional coming of age ritual with alcohol. It’s tacitly OK to start drinking in your late teens, as long as you don’t get caught. That makes access to alcohol, while not difficult, still a valuable commodity for the coming-of-age person, emphasizing the link between adulthood and alcohol and encouraging over-use when the “forbidden” (nudge wink) fruit is available.

The college drinking culture cost me a point off my GPA and my first serious relationship. My own difficult experience with alcohol tells me you can only learn from experience. That’s why I so adamantly oppose the 21 drinking age and why I voted “yes” to repeal the 21-only ordinance.

21-only supporters try to claim that this fight is not about the drinking age. But by refusing to engage on this under-discussed issue, they perpetuate that cultural dysfunction and lose credibility with the same young people they’re patronizingly trying to “protect.” That makes it harder to address the binge drinking problem they claim to care about.

Nearly every politician I know privately says the 21-only drinking age is unworkable. Some even admit it’s unfair to the young adults whose support they eagerly seek in general elections. But almost none say so in public. The city-university establishment stance on this is that the end, cracking down on the No. 1 Party School, justifies the means.

For almost all purposes besides alcohol, 18-year-olds are considered adults. In 1971, our nation made a wartime decision, by the overwhelming majority that a constitutional amendment requires, that the age of adulthood was 18. The drinking age is nowhere near as enshrined. It’s just legislation. It can be changed.

Even an assistant city attorney now admits that the 21-only ordinance has human rights implications. But instead of addressing that by recognizing rights, the city wants to redefine rights to get their desired outcome.

Rights fights are uncomfortable sometimes. You have to stick up for unsympathetic characters like Larry Flynt and Illinois Nazis, and Vodka Samm and self-interested bar owners. (Yet self-interest is OK if you want to keep beggars away from your jewelry store.) Rights aren’t less important just because the right in question is less high-minded.

Some people in this town would be happier if the university were nothing but athletes, tenured faculty, invisible grad students who never leave the lab and the cultural amenities usually seen only in much bigger cities. But without our students, without those immature and inconvenient freshmen and sophomores, there is no Iowa City.

The young adults who drive Iowa City’s economy want and deserve adult fun. I’m not pretending that 19-year-olds will go to the bar “just to dance,” or sip on one drink while earnestly discussing their literature class in a quiet pub. They’ll make mistakes.

That’s the point. “We don’t want to go back,” says 21 Makes Sense (sic), yet their vision looks back to the we-know-what’s-best-for-you attitudes of the 1950s. Instead, we should encourage young adults to make their own decisions and take responsibility.

Only when we separate the alcohol abuse issue from the “underage” (sic) drinking issue, and recognize the rights and wishes of young adults, can we Old People be taken seriously on the very real problem of binge drinking.

And voting “yes” to repeal the 21-only ordinance is a good first step toward the conversation about the drinking age we need to have.

Iowa City grandfather John Deeth turns 50 this year. He had his last drink on Aug. 25, 1985.

Clean Streets and Creative Consumption

September 30, 2012, 1:30 p.m.

Alcohol: Friend or Enema? At last, Less Drinking
I've never seen the neighborhood so spotless during a Hawkeyes' football game as it was yesterday.

And from Tennessee, historically an innovator in the manufacture of alcohol, comes now some truly innovative ways to consume it.

Together, those topics make up my morning's verbal meandering.

This blog is nothing if not an equal opportunity offender. I figure a democracy requires a little challenge to complacency, "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable," and all that. On the other hand, when I think someone else is piling on a little unfairly, I'm quite prepared to come to the defense of my hometown, or anything, or anyone, else. See, e.g., "'We're Number One!' What's Your City's Ranking?".

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

Recently I've been a little tough on the football fans, University, City, and athletic program for the mess that's left behind in the residential neighborhoods following Hawkeye football games. "Football Trash Talk; Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike," Sept. 11; "Anheuser-Busch, UI & Hawks a Win-Win-Win", Sept. 17.

This is not to say that the amount of trash has become insignificant. Following one game 13,280 pounds of trash was collected; and of course that does not count what is outside the area from which it's collected, the cans picked up for their 5-cent value when recycled by unsupervised volunteers, or what the neighbors dispose of. Tara Bannow, "Keeping gameday trash out of the landfill; Volunteers clean and sort trash at Kinnick on Sundays," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 29, 2012, p. A3 ("At the Sept. 8 game against Iowa State University, the team [of recyclers] collected 4,700 pounds of recyclable materials, 620 pounds of food waste for compost and 7,960 pounds of trash.") And of course there's less incentive to stand outside when it's cold, and try to get falling down drunk by 10:30 in the morning when the game's at 11:00, than when there's balmy warm weather prior to a late afternoon and evening game.

But compare this picture with the one above. As far down the street as you can see, the lawns are cleaned of trash. Such trash as there was is now bagged, tied, neatly piled, and ready to be collected. Some of this is due to more respectful fans. But the fact remains that real efforts have gone into organizing volunteers, and those modestly paid, to distribute trash containers prior to the game and pick them up afterwards, to pick up the trash, and as an added societal benefit, to sort and recycle, and compost, that which can be used. Stacey Murray, "Iowa City Sees Spike in Gameday Trash," The Daily Iowan, September 26, 2012 ("Outside Kinnick Stadium, Melrose Avenue is taking a hit. With four-consecutive home games this month, the Extend the Dream Foundation noticed a 15 percent increase in trash levels on Melrose Avenue and Melrose Court. . . . [Foundation Director Tom] Walz’s foundation works in cooperation with the University of Iowa’s Office of Sustainability, Iowa City, and the Hawkeye Athletics Department in a partnership to clean up Melrose Avenue during and after each home game.").

So give credit where it is due, I say. Many thanks to UI President Sally Mason, Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek, UI Athletic Director Gary Barta, Extend the Dream Foundation Director Tom Walz, and their casts of thousands (along with whoever else has contributed), that have recognized a problem, thought it through to a potential solution, and then implemented it. It is an example of common sense, responsibility and civil collaboration that is not often seen from administrators.

Alcohol: Friend or Enema? At last, less drinking

We've had a little problem with alcohol-related abuses at a UI fraternity. "Alcohol Abuse and Sexual Assault, or 'Fine Public Service'?" Sept. 26 ("Police began investigating an alleged sexual assault at a UI fraternity . . .. Residents had been charged with alcohol-related offenses earlier this summer. . . . [T]he fraternity's national headquarters suspended the group and expelled its current members, citing "hazing . . .." That day the UI mentioned 'illegal alcohol consumption' . . ..").

In fairness, students' alcohol abuse is a problem in a great many colleges around the country (and the world). It's not limited to Iowa City. Actually, the University of Iowa's numbers have been improving in some ways, although students still binge drink at something like twice the national average. See, e.g.,: "UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads," August 30, 2012; "'We're # 2!' . . . in Campus Drunks," August 21, 2012; "A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . .," June 16, 2012. The Daily Iowan's Monday morning [Oct. 1] "Police Blotter" reported 50 arrests -- a decline from prior weeks. (Most, but not all, are of college-age individuals for alcohol-related offenses.) On the other hand, arrests and sexual assaults are up: "The report shows arrests and judicial referrals for liquor-law violations fluctuated between 2009 and 2011, with a total of 127 arrests and 537 judicial referrals in 2009 . . . and 497 arrests and 777 referrals in 2011 — an overall increase in both arrests and referrals. . . . The report also showed a rise in the number of forcible sex offenses on campus, with 11 total offenses in 2011, compared to the 7 total offenses reported in 2010." Matt Starns, "Clery Report shows rise in alcohol-related crime, sex offenses at UI," The Daily Iowan, October 2.

But the news out of Tennessee is especially noteworthy.

For some reason I'm reminded of the story -- whether true or apocryphal is irrelevant for this purpose -- of a father's reaction to his teenage son's drunk driving, and an accident in which one passenger was killed and two were severely injured. When informed that his son had tested over the legal limit, the father responded, "Well, thank God he's not using drugs."

Alcohol IS a hard drug. Indeed, based on the amount of alcohol-related harm it does, alcohol is by any measure our nation's number one hard drug. The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence reports that 23 million Americans over the age of 12 are addicted to alcohol and other drugs; problems that touch 24% of American families. "Overview," National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence." Add the workplace or student colleagues, neighbors, more distant family, and others and we're talking about tens of millions more Americans than those affected by other drugs.

"Out of millions who hold full time employment in the United States, close to fifteen million are heavy drinkers of alcohol, exacting a high cost on work organizations . . . , premature death/fatal accidents, injuries/accident rates, absenteeism/extra sick leave, loss of production, tardiness/sleeping on the job, theft, poor decision making, loss of efficiency, lower morale of co-workers, increased likelihood of having trouble with co-workers . . ., higher turnover, training of new employees, [and] disciplinary procedures." "Alcohol and the Workplace," National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence." This adverse economic impact runs into the billions of dollars.

Alcohol's grossly disproportionate impact (compared with other drugs) is seen throughout our society. Look it up; I'm not going to provide all the links here. Alcohol is involved in roughly half, give or take, of all crimes, and its related involvement as a challenge for roughly half of the prison population. It's adverse, irreversible physical and health effects are greater than those for heroin.

The impact on students includes everything from the consequences of physical violence, drunk driving, unwanted pregnancies, hospital admissions for near toxic levels of alcohol, through dropouts, to death (some 1800 alcohol-related deaths of college students each year).

Notwithstanding these risks and consequences, there are students who continue to drink alcohol, not one (or two) glasses of beer or wine over a meal, but to get drunk, up to and beyond passing out -- "binge drinking." This behavior clearly relates to using alcohol as a drug rather than socializing.

As you may know, there has been an uptick in national awareness of our need for greater emphasis on "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math" -- which goes by the acronym, "STEM."

And it now appears this student interest in scientific research, this intellectual curiosity, has penetrated the minds of the residents of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Tennessee.

And that's not all it's penetrated.

Serious students don't mind an occasional party, but they have to have good time management skills as well. Long social evenings with alcohol, in benefit-cost terms, take entirely too much time away from the studying students would prefer to be doing.

Binge drinking, by contrast, is much more efficient. "The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours." "Alcohol and Public Health Fact Sheets," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cutting the time consumed by a non-studying activity from six or eight hours down to two is obviously appealing.

But as these young people are discovering, science is constantly evolving and expanding. I recently calculated that the terabyte external hard drive I just bought cost me, in dollars per unit of storage space, roughly 1/10,000 the cost of the first one I purchased over 30 years ago.

How might students cut down on the time consumed by binge drinking? That was the challenge confronted by this Tennessee fraternity's members.

After considerable lab and library research they settled upon an hypothesis involving rates of absorption. They had already amassed significant quantities of anecdotal evidence that eating before drinking reduced the sensation of drunkenness -- as well as the desired onset of the lack of any sensation whatsoever.

"How else might alcohol be injected into the human body?" they asked. They considered the use of a syringe, injecting alcohol directly into the blood, but decided the risks of sharing needles -- almost compulsory among blood brothers -- outweighed the possible advantages of this approach.

Probing for other orifices into which alcohol might be injected they ultimately came to the realization they had been sitting on it all along. And so was born the "alcohol enema hypothesis."

The results were staggering -- but also frightening. Erik Schelzig, "Univ. of Tennessee fraternity's alcohol enema has deadly risk," Associated Press/Decatur Daily [Knoxville, Tennessee], September 29, 2012. As Mr. Schelzig explains:

Before an unruly Tennessee party ended with a student hospitalized for a dangerously high blood alcohol level, most people had probably never heard of alcohol enemas.

Thanks to the drunken exploits of a fraternity at the University of Tennessee, the bizarre way of getting drunk is giving parents, administrators and health care workers a new fear.

When Alexander "Xander" Broughton, 20, was delivered to the hospital after midnight on Sept. 22, his blood alcohol level was measured at 0.448 percent — nearly six times the intoxication that defines drunken driving in the state. Injuries to his rectum led hospital officials to fear he had been sodomized. . . .

Police documents show that when an officer interviewed a fellow fraternity member about what happened, the student said the injuries had been caused by an alcohol enema. . . .

Broughton . . . denied having an alcohol enema. Police concluded otherwise from evidence they found at the frat house, including boxes of Franzia Sunset Blush wine.

"He also had no recollection of losing control of his bowels and defecating on himself," according to a university police report that includes photos of the mess left behind in the fraternity house after the party. . . .

Alcohol enemas have been the punch lines of YouTube videos . . .. But Corey Slovis, chairman of department of emergency medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said actually going through with the deed can have severe consequences.

"It's something that offers no advantages, while at the same time risking someone's life," he said.

The procedure bypasses the stomach, accelerating the absorption rate, Slovis said. Pouring the alcohol through a funnel can increase the amount of alcohol consumed because it's hard to gauge how much is going in. . . .

The effects have been fatal in at least one case. An autopsy performed after the death of a . . . Texas man in 2004 showed he had been given an enema with enough sherry to have a blood alcohol level of 0.47 percent. . . .

Gordon Ray, a senior from Morristown, said the details of the case caught him off guard, but not the fact that fraternity members would be overdoing it with alcohol.

"It is definitely over the top," said Ray. "But it doesn't surprise me, I don't guess." . . .

James E. Lange, who coordinates alcohol and drug abuse prevention strategies at San Diego State University, said alcohol enemas aren't a common occurrence on campuses, though normal consumption still contributes to hundreds of student deaths annually. . . .

And many of those can be attributed to reckless attitudes about the consequences of heavy drinking, he said.

"It's not unusual to hear that students are drinking to get drunk," he said. . . .

All I can say is, "Thank goodness those Tennessee boys weren't drinking."

# # #

UI Greek Frat Behavior 'Aberrant'?!

September 26, 2012, 9:20 a.m. (now with Sept. 27 and 28 updates); and for one school's alternative to fraternity boys drinking, see "Clean Streets and Creative Consumption; At Last, Less Drinking," Sept. 30.

Alcohol Abuse and Sexual Assault, or "Fine Public Service"?
On September 11 Iowa City Police began investigating an alleged sexual assault at a UI fraternity that occurred September 8. Residents had been charged with alcohol-related offenses earlier this summer. On September 24 the fraternity's national headquarters suspended the group and expelled its current members, citing "hazing and the chapter's failure to comply with our standards . . .." That day the UI mentioned "illegal alcohol consumption" at the fraternity house.

And how has the University responded?

With a defense of the Greek system. As a top administrator put it, “I believe that it is an aberrant incident that does not accurately represent life at the University of Iowa. To the contrary, . . . members of the Greek system . . .provide a great deal of fine public service." Josh O'Leary, "Police investigate sex assault at SAE; Incident was reported earlier this month, before fraternity was closed," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 26, 2012, p. A1.

That UI assertion was challenged in the first version of this blog entry, September 26. It concluded with, "The problems are endemic. They are not aberrations. They deserve and require proactive approaches." A couple anonymous fraternity advocates responded strongly to that assertion (which engendered a rejoinder from another anonymous blog reader; all are at the bottom of this blog entry).

This morning's [Sept. 28] Gazette, relying on the University's own data, confirms what was admittedly only an assumption on my part two days ago. Diane Heldt, "UI frat’s members had high arrest, citation rate; Sigma Alpha Epsilon was closed by national headquarters this week," The Gazette, September 28, 2012, p. A2. The arrest records, largely alcohol-related, for fraternity and sorority members are substantially above those for other student groups (details below).

As it happens, the arrest record is held by the very fraternity involved in this week's news, SAE. Arrest records for members of Greek houses generally are nothing to brag about, given averages above those for other student populations. But among them, SAE had the highest percentage of members arrested, at 27 percent.

This raises a number of issues.

(1) When the University's own data shows that with regard to Greek houses "the problems are endemic" and "not aberrations," why would a top UI administrator describe SAE's offenses as "an aberrant incident that does not accurately represent" Greek life?

(2) Given SAE's excessively high arrest record, why was there no intervention from the University -- which professes to monitor, and care about this very problem -- before now?

Diane Heldt's story, linked above, reports, "'the figures [on arrests of Greek house members] have generated numerous conversations, particularly between the university administrators and student representatives in the Greek community,' Tom Baker, associate dean of students, said via email Thursday. . . . 'One of the things we’re working on is trying to reduce the [arrest] rates in our fraternity and sorority chapters,' he said."

Let's take UI's administrators at their word: they are "trying to reduce the rates" of arrests of members of Greek houses. But if that is truly the case, wouldn't you think they would have done something -- whether increased security and monitoring, or merely educational programs -- within the house with the single highest arrest record of any Greek house on campus, a house that has been visited by police 28 times in five years -- something more, that is, than merely "numerous conversations"?

The hard copy Gazette contains the reproduction of much of the University's data. Unfortunately, the paper does not appear to have made this valuable information available online. So here are some excerpts:

For 2010-11 the University's data reveals that the percentage of undergraduate males' with arrests was 6%, whereas the rate for fraternity members was 15.1%. Fraternity members may provide "fine public service," but they also provided that year nearly three times the percentage of arrests of male undergraduates generally.

It was not that much better for females. They had lower rates than males, overall, but the sorority sisters were arrested at roughly two times the arrest record for undergraduate females generally: 7.4% vs. 3.8%.

Yes, the rates go up (from 2009-10 to 2010-11) and down (from 2010-11 to 2011-12). But the contrast between the undergraduate population generally, and the arrest records for members of Greek houses persists.

So much for the "aberration."

With regard to the charges of hazing, and the practice of hazing among Greeks nationally, see Jordyn Reiland, "Experts respond to UI Sigma Alpha Epsilon controversy," Daily Iowan, September 26, 2012 ("In 2008 and 2009, ΣΑΕ . . . faced complaints of hazing, in which sanctions were imposed").

With regard to what triggered the most recent investigation, see Jordyn Reiland, "Sigma Alpha Epsilon frat removed from UI campus following 'hazing and violations,'" Daily Iowan, September 25, 2012 ("A current member of the fraternity . . . said he believes an incident that occurred four weeks ago sparked the investigation, which eventually found hazing and violations. According to the member, the fraternity hosted a party during which attendees consumed alcohol. At the party, members found a female lying unconscious on the ground outside the house. The student said members brought the female to the hospital.") For an update on the allegations of sexual assault, see "SAE headquarters says it decided to close UI chapter before learning of investigation," Iowa City Press-Citizen online, September 26, 2012, 4:44 p.m. [hardcopy: Josh O'Leary, "Report: Alleged Victim Sustained Injuries; SAE: Decision Made Before it Knew of Police Probe," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 27, 2012, p. A1.] And see, Vanessa Miller, "Iowa City police called to now-closed fraternity 28 times in five years," The Gazette, September 27, 2012, p. A5 ("Iowa City police since 2007 have received 28 calls for service to . . . the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house that was closed earlier this week following hazing allegations and is at the center of a sexual assault investigation.").

For the current housing status of the former fraternity members living in the house, see Stacey Murray, "SAE members have chance for appeal," The Daily Iowan, September 27, 2012.

[Photo credit: Benjamin Roberts / Iowa City Press-Citizen /.] Now don't get me wrong. I'm willing to believe that there are a good many members of fraternities who've chosen the Greek life because they wanted a quiet place to study, and a circle of friends who understand the hazards of binge drinking. And there probably are many a sorority sister who could be said to "be an angel who spends all winter, bringin' the homeless blankets and dinner, a regular Nobel peace prize winner." (From Lee Ann Womack's, "I'll Think of a Reason Later.") See Editorial, "Greeks can lead UI to better reputation," Daily Iowan, September 4, 2012.

But as for the characterization of the punished behavior as an "aberration," it's worthwhile to reproduce Josh O'Leary's recitation of prior Greek troubles on this campus.

The closure of the SAE chapter, which was founded in 1905, is the latest in a long line of UI fraternities that have faced periods of imposed dormancy because of violations in recent years:

• In January 2008, Delta Upsilon International Fraternity closed its 82-year-old UI chapter after four of its members were arrested for allegedly dealing drugs. UI had suspended the chapter the previous month during an investigation.

• International leaders of Phi Gamma Delta suspended its UI chapter and closed its Iowa City house in August 2005 following a party involving alcohol. The fraternity had already been on probation for more than three years, originally stemming from hazing and followed by problems with alcohol.

• Alcohol use and hazing at UI’s Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity prompted school officials to suspend the local chapter in November 2004 for five years. UI said fraternity members provided alcohol to pledges at the chapter house and that some of the eight pledges had performed calisthenics, such as push-ups or jumping jacks, as part of a pledge test, which UI considers hazing.

• UI revoked the Phi Delta Theta fraternity’s recognition in January 2002 after investigating a former fraternity member’s complaint that he and other new members were forced to drink fifths of various hard liquors in a 20-minute stretch. The fraternity admitted alcohol violations but disputed its members engaged in hazing, and UI eventually dropped the hazing charge. In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered UI pay the fraternity $73,000 in damages.

• In 2000, Pi Kappa Alpha was suspended for one year for having alcohol at its chapter house. Fraternity members were ordered to vacate at that time, as well, because the house was labeled “unfit and unsafe for human habitation.”

• In April 1999, the Delta Tau Delta fraternity vacated its house after its national headquarters suspended the UI chapter for a minimum of four years for violating alcohol and drug policies. The fraternity had been affiliated with UI for 119 years.

• In September 1995, Lambda Chi Alpha pledge Matthew Garafalo, 19, was found dead at the Clinton Street fraternity house. Doctors later determined his blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit when he died from choking on his own vomit. The fraternity was suspended for five years.

SAE an aberration? I think not.

The problems associated with the Greek culture are similar to those surrounding the campus alcohol consumption culture, and the externalities, conflicts of interest, and resulting culture that are created when we embed in the academy what amounts to farm clubs for the NFL and NBA.

The problems are endemic. They are not aberrations. They deserve and require proactive approaches. Otherwise Josh O'Leary's list is destined to merely increase over time, as each hazing revelation, death, sexual assault, and alcohol-related arrest comes to light, receives media attention to the detriment of the University, and is dismissed as just another "aberration."

# # #

Anheuser-Busch, UI & Hawks a Win-Win-Win

September 17, 2012, 12:10 p.m.
Advertising Pays
There are numerous stories of the almost miraculous impact of advertising, including these from the 1960s reported in How to Talk Back to Your Television Set: "Alberto Culver relied almost exclusively on television advertising, and pushed its sales from $1.5 million in 1956 to $80 million in 1964. The manufacturer of the bottled liquid cleaner Lestoil undertook a $9 million television advertising program and watched his sales go from 150,000 bottles annually to 100 million in three years--in competition with Procter and Gamble, Lever Brothers, Colgate, and others. The Dreyfus Fund went from assets of $95 million in 1959 to $1.1 billion in 1965 and concluded, 'TV works for us.'" How to Talk Back to Your Television Set (1970), pp. 21-22.

Now it looks like the story of the joint marketing agreement between the University of Iowa and Anheuser-Busch -- designed to increase sales of the company's beer to the University's college students -- is soon to join those historic tales.

Last week's game did not go very well on the field, or in the adjoining neighborhood. "Football Trash Talk; Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike," September 12, 2012.

Last Saturday's [Sept. 15] game against UNI went better both on and off the field. The Hawks won, 27-16, and there may have been slightly less drunkenness and trash on the neighbors' property -- although as this picture shows, there's still a shortage of students brought up to pick up. And a part of the reason may still be alcohol consumption. Last week I relayed that the Daily Iowan reported 78 arrests; this morning it reported 119. "Police Blotter," Daily Iowan, September 17, 2012.

Some of the arrest records reveal the seriousness of the problem. (Names, although in the public record and media, redacted from this blog entry for reasons of privacy and lack of relevance.) Note that the legal age in Iowa for obtaining or consuming alcohol is 21. You can argue about what it ought to be, but that is what it is. Of the following individuals, one was one day over 21, all others were under the legal age. Thus, not only were they illegally consuming alcohol; someone had illegally provided them that alcohol. Note also that the blood alcohol level that constitutes DWI is 0.08 percent. All whose blood alcohol percentages were mentioned here were over that level. (Another man, over 21, who tried to enter the University Hospital through a plate glass window, had a level of 0.310.) Here's an excerpt from the report: "[Name], 21, of Cedar Rapids, told officers he partied a bit too hard for his 21st birthday. [He] was found vomiting inside Kinnick Stadium and blew a .123 on a preliminary breath test. He was arrested for public intoxication. [Name], 18, of Iowa City; [Name], 19 of Cedar Rapids; and [Name], 19, of Iowa City, all were found passed out in Kinnick Stadium restrooms within 30 minutes of each other. [Name] was vomiting and [Name] had defecated on herself. All three women had blood-alcohol contents between .127 percent and .177 percent. They were arrested for public intoxication. Men pass out inside Kinnick Stadium, too, as proven by . . . [Name], 19, of Iowa City. . . . [He] was found passed out in a bathroom. . . . [Name], 20, of Iowa City, was arrested after he tried to carry prohibited items into the stadium . . .. He refused a breath test but was charged with public intoxication . . .." Lee Hermiston, "Gameday Arrests Down From ISU Game," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 18, 2012, p. A1. (Differences in numbers of arrests are due to a "gameday" only count and the Daily Iowan's "Police Blotter" report on Monday from the football weekend -- which showed an increase between the ISU and UNI weekends.)

What also was different this last Saturday was that my eye began to focus on the content of the trash, like that of an archeologist digging through the remnants from an ancient civilization. The ratio of Anheuser-Busch beer can containers to those of the company's competitors was grossly disproportionate -- something I'd failed to notice the week before (although I see one of the pictures I displayed in last week's blog entry does show such a container).

In case you missed the news, the University of Iowa and its Athletic Department have entered into a joint marketing agreement with Anheuser-Busch. The company gets to associate itself with UI athletics with its use of the Herky logo, in exchange for which the University gets some cash. For background and commentary on the Anheuser-Busch deal, UI's alcohol programs, and numerous ignored proposals for improvement, see, among many more, e.g.: "UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads," August 30, 2012; "'We're # 2!' . . . in Campus Drunks," August 21, 2012; "A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . .," June 16, 2012; "Lessons from Lincoln: Reducing Binge Drinking Hazards," May 21, 2010; UI's Alcohol Abuse: Look to Nebraska," December 28, 2009; UI's Alcohol Problem: Many Solutions, Little Will; Alcohol Back in the News? No, Always in the News," December 16, 2009 (with links to 30 more); "Getting Real About Alcohol," January 18, 2008.

From the looks of the trash this week, it looks like it's a win-win-win. The Hawks win the game, and Anheuser-Busch's sales of Bud Lite and Busch Lite must be way up.

The other thing to notice in these first two pictures are the empty containers of Anheuser-Busch product that have been dropped within arms reach of trash containers that could easily have held them.

Here are more examples of Anheuser-Busch sales at a variety of other locations.

Advertisers are always looking for tangible evidence that the millions they spend on advertising, with and without logos, is actually having some impact. Anheuser-Busch and the University should be very proud of what, together, they have been able to accomplish. The proof is in the trash.

# # #

Football Trash Talk

September 12, 2012 10:10 a.m.

Iowa City: Where Great Minds Drink Alike

Football is not pretty. Last Saturday [Sept. 8] it was the Iowa State game. This Saturday it will be the University of Northern Iowa.

Last Saturday may be the worst I've ever seen.

And I'm not even talking about the Hawkeyes' performance inside Kinnick. Nor am I talking about the exploitation of student athletes for what is, in fact, big business -- complete with TV revenues, multi-million-dollar facilities, budgets (and salaries). I'm not talking about current concern over the life-long consequences for players from concussions and other injuries.

I'm talking about one of the consequences from the University of Iowa's alcohol culture -- the effort to mix what the pictured shirt advertises ("Iowa City: Great Minds Drink Alike") as the improbable co-existence of "great minds" and a student binge drinking rate twice the national average.

On Monday the Daily Iowan reported 78 arrests, most of which involved alcohol. "Police Blotter, Daily Iowan, September 10, 2012, p. 2. On Tuesday it reported that, among Iowa's state schools, "the UI ranks highest in total number of incidents reported, total number of charges, and total number of people arrested in both 2011 and the first half of 2012." "New crime stats show UI highest in overall activity", Daily Iowan, September 11, 2012, p. 2. The Press-Citizen and Register reported, Lee Hermiston, "140 alcohol citations given near Kinnick on Saturday," Iowa City Press-Citizen/Des Moines Register, September 11, 2012.

But even with regard to alcohol, I'm not talking about the personal and institutional consequences of this culture -- the self-inflicted injuries, the violence, the unwanted pregnancies, permanent brain damage, the hospital admissions for injuries and near-fatal blood alcohol levels, the drunk driving deaths and injuries to others, the missed classes, absenteeism from work, and the ultimate student drop-out rates. E.g., Robert McCoppin, "Colleges try new tactics in battle against binge drinking; Campuses offer safety training, sponsor dry events and require alcohol assessments, but 'there is no magic bullet,' an NU official says," Chicago Tribune, September 5, 2012 ("[T]he National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, blames binge drinking for more than 1,800 college student deaths a year . . .. Research shows that frequent binge drinkers are more likely to miss classes, get hurt, engage in risky sex and have problems in class."); Rick Nauert, "Binge Drinking Linked to Brain Damage," PsycCentral, June 28, 2011 ("experts now believe binge drinking can cause serious brain damage").

What I'm limiting myself to this morning is the behavior of the fans, its impact on the residential neighborhoods surrounding the stadium, and more specifically what it says about the attitudes of fans and university officials.

It just seemed to me last Saturday that the music was much louder, the language more gross, the drunkenness more obvious, and the urination on private lawns more offensive.

And the trash. Oh, the trash.

Bottles are thrown in the air just for the thrill of watching them fall and shatter. Cans are dropped, rather than put in available trash containers.

Eventually, at least most of it gets picked up within a couple of days -- thanks in large measure to the homeless and others who gather and recycle the cans. Even they are handicapped, however, by what seems to be the new macho sport of can crushing. Crushed cans can't be recycled, so they are left on private property.

It's bad enough that fans just drop their trash wherever they happen to be. What's worse for homeowners, however, is that the students don't just drop it. That would make it easier for others to pick up. Rather, they choose to demonstrate their athletic prowess, having crushed the can, by throwing their trash of all kinds into and under bushes and shrubs. As a result, picking up trash from one's yard requires crawling under the bushes to try to retrieve trash that is visible but well out of reach. This picture illustrates a small portion of what one elderly woman was able to retrieve, and pile up, before carrying it to her own trash container.

What I found especially offensive was the trash deposited in front of the Mormon "Institute of Religion." It is, among other things, a rather ironic choice of location for one's alcohol-related trash, given that UI's Mormon students are the one group that neither consumes alcohol nor has been brought up to drop their trash for others to pick up. I'm not a member of the LDS church, but I like to see respect accorded all religions and their property. It may be those who put it there were simply demonstrating the same general drunken thoughtlessness that was evident throughout the neighborhood and that -- notwithstanding the sign out front -- they were totally unaware of the purpose of one of the neighborhood's finest buildings. At least I hope it was no more than that.

Whatever UI's administrators may say, these pictures reflect what "Responsibility Matters" looks like. (To borrow from the Chicago teachers' picketing chant, "this is what democracy looks like," I can hear the trash protesters pointing and chanting: "Show me what 'responsibility' looks like" -- "This is what 'responsibility' looks like.")

In fairness, it's tough for a university administration to simultaneously try to (1) carry out programs designed to discourage college students from binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse and its consequences, while (2) (a) engaging in a lucrative joint-marketing agreement designed to increase the sale of Anheuser-Busch products, and (b) engaging in a gambling bet between the presidents of Iowa and Iowa State in which the winner gets -- that's right, a bottle of booze. (The UI administration has reassured critics of this last seeming conflict by noting that it advises that hard liquor as well as beer should also be consumed "responsibily.") Iowa State, Iowa university presidents settle up on college football bet," Des Moines Register/Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 13, 2012 ("On the line was a bottle of Templeton Rye, a drink sold by an Iowa-based company and billed as 'Prohibition-era whiskey.' . . . [D]oes wagering alcohol while the university works to curb problem drinking send a mixed message? University officials say no.")

The UI administration recently bragged that some of the alcohol abuse statistics on campus had actually declined. (Binge drinking rates remain twice the national average.) The leader of the school's "Responsibility Matters" movement concedes, however, that “Culture change takes a long time.” True. But I rather suspect that "culture change" takes longer still at a university that promotes the sale of beer, and whose administrators gamble with bottles of hard liquor. Just saying. Nate Otjen, "Iowa City-UI alcohol partnership touts new statistics," Daily Iowan, September 13, 2012.

For background and commentry on the Anheuser-Busch deal, UI's alcohol programs, and numerous ignored proposals for improvement, see, among many more, e.g.: "UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads," August 30, 2012; "'We're # 2!' . . . in Campus Drunks," August 21, 2012; "A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . .," June 16, 2012; "Lessons from Lincoln: Reducing Binge Drinking Hazards," May 21, 2010; UI's Alcohol Abuse: Look to Nebraska," December 28, 2009; UI's Alcohol Problem: Many Solutions, Little Will; Alcohol Back in the News? No, Always in the News," December 16, 2009 (with links to 30 more); "Getting Real About Alcohol," January 18, 2008.

Apparently the Melrose neighborhood was not the only repository for trash. "A mass of volunteers descended upon Kinnick Stadium last weekend. Their task was simple— recycle every piece of waste. . . . Roughly 4,700 pounds of recycling were collected . . .. 'The majority of waste is in the stands after the game,' said . . . the president of Delta Tau Delta." Kelsey L. Johnson, "Recycling Initiatives for Iowa-Iowa State Game Yield Results," Daily Iowan, September 14, 2012. Two thoughts: Over two tons of trash left behind by fans! A multi-million-dollar football program that doesn't pay the players the fans come to see, and then relies on volunteers to pick up the trash their entertainment program produces?!

Ah, but there's more. Apparently downtown Iowa City wasn't very pretty either. "On Sunday morning at 9 a.m., downtown Iowa City wasn’t the fun-filled place to party. It was a place no public relations firm would want to promote. I saw numerous piles of vomit, broken bar glasses and beer bottles, numerous plates of half-eaten food sitting around the outdoor cafés, and trash blowing everywhere." Andrea Rauer, "Use Beer Money to Clean Downtown," Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 14, 2012, p. A7.

As for UI's students with alcohol-soaked "great minds," someone, sometime, better tell them that a great mind with a B.A. degree is only one of many, many qualities necessary to progress along the road to whatever they consider "success" -- whether the financial ability to engage in the "conspicuous consumption" of the rich, or a reduced-stress bliss. Along with at least minimal social and time-management skills, and what my parents' generation used to call "the sense God gave geese," it includes things as mundane as the civility to pick up and dispose of one's own trash.

And that's the point of this blog entry. It's not about football or alcohol -- although both are involved. It's about being thoughtful, and sensitive to others. And it's about, as was the case during the recent Penn State discussion, what the NCAA calls "institutional control." "Institutional Control," NCAA Constitution, Art. 6, NCAA 2011-12 Division I Manual, p. 43; and see Michelle Brutlag Hosick, "Presidential Leadership Drives Transformation," NCAA News, June 28, 2012.

UI Administrators 'Shocked' By School's Beer Ads

August 30, 2012, 10:38 a.m.
Who Could Have Guessed?
The University of Iowa's administrators are shocked, shocked I tell you, to discover that when they entered into a lucrative beer marketing effort with Anheuser-Busch that it would lead to beer distributors and local bars using it to increase sales. Jens Krogstad, "Bars pull banners featuring U of I logo; The posters stem from the university's sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch," Des Moines Register, August 30, 2012. And see, Jens Manuel Krogstad, "University of Iowa, Busch revisiting beer signs; Athletic director says bar banners did not receive final approval," Des Moines Register, August 31, 2012; Eric Clark, "Sally Mason expresses concern over Anheuser-Busch Tigerhawk use," The Daily Iowan, August 31, 2012; and "A Busch in the Hand is Worth . . .," June 16, 2012.

Who could have guessed that anything like this would happen?

As recently as yesterday, the UI president reassured us that the University's policies on alcohol consumption -- that is, discouraging binge drinking while simultaneously engaging in marketing efforts to increase beer sales and profits -- are "very consistent." Anna Theodosis, "UI's Mason Calls Personal Alcohol Stance 'Very Consistent," The Daily Iowan, August 28, 2012, p. A1.

How could it possibly have happened that a beer company, distributors, and bar owners would have done this -- shocking and embarrassing their marketing partners in the academy?

I've not thoroughly researched the matter, but according to the Register's story, "'The university athletics department approved the banners that were seen around Iowa City this week that included the Tiger Hawk, the Bud Light logo and the words "Enjoy Responsibly,"' said Rick Klatt, the university’s athletics department associate marketing director."

Do you suppose that could have something to do with the appearance of those banner ads, prominently displayed in local bars' front windows? It's at least a possibility.

There is one additional item worthy of attention.

A centerpiece of the beer marketing agreement was the understanding that the words "Responsibility Matters" would appear in every beer ad. Why I wonder was it changed from "Responsibility Matters" to "Enjoy Responsibly"?

Presumably, "Responsibility Matters" had been scientifically tested and found to create in students a disinclination to drink. I mean, why else would one make it a major provision in a marketing contract?

At least I assume that was the case. After all, when the University was ranked the Number Two party school in the nation, the administration derisively responded that the Princeton Review's data was not "scientific." See "'We're #2!' . . . in Campus Drunks," August 21, 2012. The administration preferred to get its data from the National College Health Assessment, which reported some improvement in Iowa's numbers. What the administrators may have overlooked was that this reliable, scientific source of data also reported that UI's students were still binge drinking at roughly double the national average.

My sources may not be reliable, but my understanding is that the data from the academy's commendable commitment to scientific research did show that when students confront the phrase "Responsibility Matters" all desire to drink alcohol vanishes. The actual sight of beer creates an upset stomach, and the sensation of vomiting, thus prompting students to return to their dorm rooms and begin studying. The added advantages, besides the elimination of hangovers, avoidance of unwanted pregnancy, feeling more rested the next day, and getting better grades, are the savings in both time and money compared with the rapid consumption of five or six beers in succession. And the benefit for bar owners is that there is much less actual vomit to clean up. It's sort of a win, win.

"Enjoy Responsibly," on the other hand, has not been scientifically tested. Therefore, its use increases the risk that this "warning" might create an association of drinking with enjoyment rather than the contractual, approved and thoroughly vetted "Responsibility Matters" phrase that is reminiscent of a parent's, or other adult's, command.

Thankfully, however, the font is still small enough that underage and binge drinking students will probably not even see it, let alone be able to read it.

How about them Hawks!! # # #