Adults can decide

Prohibition may not be a thing of the past anymore, especially on college campuses.

A $10-million initiative to curb college binge drinking funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been implemented in 10 college campuses across the country, including the University of Colorado in Boulder, Florida State and the University of Iowa.

A stipulation of the grant states that the surrounding community must also work with the participating college to reduce college binge drinking.

Iowa's program, entitled the Stepping Up Project, entails the elimination of alcohol from campus social activities and the encouragement of local bars to stop drink specials that promotes binge drinking.

Focusing on underage drinking is a valid philanthropy, but eliminating alcohol from functions that are crowded with of-age adults discourages personal responsibility and enforces the notion that college students cannot think for themselves, that they need someone else to do it for them.

Such restrictive programs are the wrong way to reach the future of our country.

Education on the effects of binge drinking, rather than reenacting the 1920s prhibiton programs, is a much more respectful and hopeful way of curving the problem.