" Since residence halls at Tulane University are considered private residences, a student must be only 18 years of age to legally consume alcohol in his room.
What kind of message is this policy sending to college students at Tulane? The media seems to think that it is a negative one. But when Tulane's newspaper, the Hullabaloo, surveyed 100 students, only one student was for making Tulane an alcohol free, or "dry" campus. The other 99 student all felt that people are going to drink if they want to. Meredith Vondra, a Newcomb sophomore, explains that binge drinking is not a number of drinks, but an act of drinking only to get drunk. She admits to binge drinking, but does not feel that there is a large problem with it at Tulane. She also admits to putting herself in danger from alcohol at least once; but again, she does not feel that she should abstain from drinking. .
Binge drinking goes far beyond Tulane University. In the last five years, binge drinking on college campuses has led to many deaths. In 1998, Michigan State student Bradley McCue died. McCue was participating in his birthday celebration, which traditionally happens at midnight on the persons birthday. As soon as McCue turned 21, he had an hour and half to drink 21 shots. McCue drank 24 shots. He was dead within two hours of being taken home. In September 1997, Scott Krueger, 18, was being initiated into a fraternity at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After consuming large quantities of beer, rum, and whiskey, he also became a victim to alcohol. Closer to home, at Louisiana State University in 1997, Benjamin Wynne, 20, apparently "drank himself to death." After being accepted to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Fraternity, Wynne and other members of his fraternity went to a local bar to celebrate. He died that same night. It was recorded that his Wynne's blood-alcohol level was nearly four times the legal driving limit.