As explained in the DukeDrinking Blog, in the United States today, undergraduate collegiate education is driven by competition, or rather a contest between mutual contenders. In the competition of american collegiate education, the goal driving all of the competitors, american undergraduate colleges, is prestige, or rather estimation from the rest of the field. In defining what is and what is not prestigious, U.S. News and World Report's Annual College Rankings Guide has come to be the most wide-spread and widely recognized authority in defining prestige in American collegiate education. Within their rankings, their methodolgy has come to separate the best colleges from the worst colleges, and for every year since 1983, it has named the top 100 colleges in the United States. Within the rankings, certain colleges have come to be known as perennially prestigious, or rather performing well in the rankings yearly. Other colleges have struggled, as most have never cracked the top 20 . With that said, the hopes of rising in the rankings, and reaping the benefits that come with being the number one college in the nation , are what keep colleges driven and competing.

My college, Duke University , is one of the lucky few colleges in U.S. News's top 10 colleges in the nation. Yet, despite Duke's top-10 performance this year, it was seen as a poor year, as Duke regressed in the rankings, and out of the top 5. Duke, like all the other colleges in the nation, desires to have the title of "number one college in the nation." A regression in the rankings would be a regression from Duke's ultimate goal. Duke, in an effort to stop any further regression from this goal, has begun reexamining many of the more controversial aspects of the University and their effects on Duke's academics and prestige.

Drinking at Duke is indeed one of the more controversial aspects of the University. In light of this past spring's lacrosse scandal followed by a sordid expose in Rolling Stone, along with another alcohol-centered debacle regarding Duke athletic director Joe Alleva, and the eventual three spot drop in the rankings, alcohol, and especially the alcohol-centered areas of Duke's social life went under examination.

Currently, Duke is doing just that through the recently founded Campus Culture Initiative, in which the University critically inspects the aspects of social life and its effects here at Duke. In the investigation, two sides have begun to form in the debate on alcohol.

One side consists of proponents of alcohol here at Duke, who allege that alcohol does not negatively affect Duke's academics. Furthermore, they expand upon that, saying the restriction of alcohol at Duke would unnecessarily restrict the University's social scene, a vibrant and oftentimes attractive facet of the Duke experience. The proponents of alcohol consists of a diverse group of people, yet they all stand for the idea that alcohol privileges should not be limited in the University's reevaluation of alcohol. The most famous proponent of that idea here at Duke is current Duke Student Government President, Elliott Wolf.

The other side, opponents of alcohol, allege that alcohol negatively affects Duke academically, and that in order to progress towards being the most prestigious college in the country, Duke needs to reevaluate its alcohol policy. Opponents state that alcohol in its current form on campus is a hindrance to Duke University and its task to be the number one college in the nation. Opponents, like proponents, are a very diverse from of people as well. One of the most famous opponents of alcohol here at Duke is former Dean of the Chapel, William Willimon.

Proponents of alcohol allege that alcohol is a unique part of the Duke social experience, and that the experiences students have from alcohol at events like Tailgate, section parties on West, and the mechanical bull at Shooters II are all social aspects of Duke with no negative effect on Duke academics.

Opponents disagree, saying that increased alcohol use correlates with an increase in binge drinking, which has consistently been linked with poor academic performance. From this, they conclude that Duke would greatly improve its academic performance by discouraging social drinking.

In actuality, the conclusions (as mentioned earlier in the Dukedrinking blog) are false, yet it is important to recognize not just why the conclusions are false, but rather why the entire argument is a false argument, and just a symptom of other causes.

The reason why the entire argument really started was because of a combination of a recent slide in U.S. News and World Report's Annual College rankings along with the lacrosse scandal from earlier this spring. Before these two events, there was not a Campus Culture Initiative, nor was there even a Dukedrinking.com. Alcohol was by no means a settled issue on campus, but it also had not become a major issue. Only after these two events was there an urgency to examine, if not remedy, the current alcohol situation here at Duke. Yet the question still remained, how did an aspect of Duke's social scene come to affect the University more greatly academically and politically than it ever has before.

With that said, it is important to first wonder, if drinking is big on campus at Duke, why did it become so prevalent?

The key to answering this question, is first wondering, if I were a student at Duke, what would I do for fun?

Being a freshman at Duke, I have thoroughly explored possible weekend recreational opportunities here at Duke. Duke, unfortunately, is not located near the actual city of Durham, North Carolina, and while the University has worked hard in trying to nourish the options around Duke, most centralized on Ninth Street , most of the places located on ninth street close on the weekends during the evenings, which is oftentimes the most popular time to go out for college students. Duke's surrounding area also lacks many specific establishments, such as movie theaters, bowling alleys, and other recreational locations. Duke's surrounding areas' difficiencies combined with lack of transportation into Durham causes students to be more likely to not venture out into the surrounding Duke community.

This decision to not leave then forces students to find a way to entertain themselves on campus. While there are groups that hold non-drinking activities on campus (Devils After Dark being one of them), the options are dwarfed by the amount of alcohol-related options. Because of the prevalence of alcohol-related options and the lack of sober options, University students are then more likely to choose to drink. Unfortunately, from this prevalence of drinking also comes an increase in the prevalence of binge drinking. It is this binge drinking that in turn played a key role in the Duke Lacrosse Scandal as well as decreased academic performance.

Duke should not make the issue drinking on campus, because it is possible for students to drink and still make responsible decisions and have productive experiences in college. With that said, Duke should still recognize that binge drinking is dangerous to campus culture. The University actually has already shown signs of a plan similar to this, as earlier in the year the University sponsored Nasher Noir, which minimized binge drinking yet still allowed responsible students to have the option of a tasteful drinking experience. Events like this would prove to be extremely effective in battling binge drinking on campus, as they neither threaten students for drinking nor do they support the culture of binge drinking that is detrimental to Duke.

In actuality, the true fight is not about drinking at all, but rather the lack of versatility in the Duke social scene. In terms of creating new options as alternatives to binge drinking, the University should try and develop Duke's surrounding areas as well as create a transportation system into the city of Durham on weekends. Examples of possible alternatives would be having regular shuttles to movie theaters on weekends or possibly building some type of recreational facility (bowling alley, etc.) in the greater Duke area. These alternatives would in turn detract from the campus lure of binge drinking and from this not only prevent academic suffering but also increase social options at the University, which in turn will minimize binge drinking without directly threatening students' drinking options on campus. That allows both sides to maintain their positions and still come to a mutual conclusion. Proponents of drinking will not have to worry about students losing drinking privileges, and opponents of drinking will not have to worry about the University encouraging drinking on campus. Only by forgetting about the two given alternatives to the debate (drinking or not drinking) and focusing in on the greater predicament affecting the university (lack of social options) will the university be able to expand the social scene, not threaten the drinking environment, and keep the focus on academic and social excellence at Duke University.