When thousands of sunbathed and pre-gamed students flooded the fraternity houses near Route 1 last weekend, I was alongside them. My goal was to gauge the students’ views on lowering the drinking age, as University President Dan Mote was one of 129 administrators nationwide to sign the Amythest Initiative, a proposal that encourages debate on lowering the drinking age.

A vomiting sophomore, keeled over the City Hall lawn, provided some of the most insightful testimony I received.

“Mote really stepped up to the plate,” the student said between heaves. “At least he agreed to some shit.”

I’d also like to thank Mote for “agreeing to some shit,” but it’s not enough. Mote ought to take a direct stand for students’ rights to make personal decisions about drinking. To me, this is an argument about freedom, not safety.

After nearly 25 years of the 21-year-old minimum, we are only now starting to reconsider the impact of this arbitrary law. Some of the nation’s most prestigious universities have circumvented it on their own by encouraging Good Samaritan policies. We haven’t.

“If you can go to war and die, you should be able to go out and have a drink,” goes the cliché, repeated by a new freshman looking for a fun time last Saturday. I loved the blue print pattern on her dress, but loved her compelling response more.

I must say I was shocked by the large number of participants in my Saturday survey of slurred-speeched students who said they agreed with the drinking age. The Department of Transportation estimates 1,000 lives per year are saved by the current legal-drinking-age law, and students said the study makes sense. Supporters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving have even called it science.

But I say 1,000 people are statistically meaningless in a country of 300 million. By MADD’s argument, we should probably just try prohibition again. The number of deaths would probably fall slightly more.

And I’m sure they’d agree we should outlaw one-night stands for anyone under 21. We’d probably slightly reduce the number of new HIV patients as well. The same argument goes for driving, flying, undergoing elective surgery and eating at Taco Bell.

Nathan Cohen is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at cohendbk@gmail.com