I think that bars that allow people, especially underage people, to consume alcohol to the point where death can occur are definitely responsible for deaths or injuries that occur due to their negligence. Fraternities that refuse to really educate their members about the dangers of alcohol misuse, refuse to place limits on the amount of alcohol that a person can bring to a BYOB party, and that turn a blind eye to off-campus drinking are also responsible. If fraternity leadership makes it known that anyone who engages in or encourages the type of drinking behavior that led to the death of Benjamin Wynne and others will be kicked out of the fraternity, such behavior will decrease. As long as the Greek system and others say that its difficult to enforce the rules and members are solely responsible for their own behavior the problems we have seen will not go away. Colleges and universities also share part of the blame if they turn a blind eye to alcohol misuse use among their students, and their off-campus organizations. Colleges and universities must provide adequate resources to support effective alcohol prevention efforts. Resources include money for programming and education, institutional support for prevention efforts. For example, mandating that all first-year students undergo several hours of alcohol education, or that all faculty include a statement about alcohol and the consequences of its misuse in their syllabi, or that alcohol prevention posters be posted in every classroom. When it comes to alcohol misuse, there is a lot of blame to go around: Bars who boost sales with irresponsible drink specials and school newspapers which advertise them; jurisdictions that simply fine minors for consumption without requiring participation in an educational program; law enforcement officials who forget to enforce laws against open containers during Homecoming or who are too busy to break-up parties where underage drinkers are paying $5.00 a cup; parents who get mad at the institution when their son or daughter is sanctioned for drinking underage or who have only warned their children about drinking and driving, but never told them its illegal for them to drink until 21. Until we all realize that the responsibility for preventing alcohol misuse is a shared one, and that our actions or inaction will either improve the situation or make it worse, we will have more deaths and incidents like the ones that have happened this year and in years past.
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