Try to imagine my dismay when I read the comment by Larry Moneta in the Jan. 17 edition of The Chronicle. To quote, "the only thing that will drastically change the debate on alcohol at the University will be 'the next death' he said." Wasn't my son's death enough?
Raheem was a junior majoring in engineering and economics when he contracted aspiration pneumonia three days after a night of heavy drinking in November 1999. As his bereaved mother I am one of the countless victims of an alcohol-caused tragedy. I am also the program director of a national nonprofit organization concerned with student safety. There is so much more that can, should and eventually will be done to combat the dangerous level of alcohol consumption currently the "norm" among the majority of students at Duke and on college campuses nationwide.
The latest Harvard University study of college drinking has shown environment to be the strongest contributing factor for excessive drinking. Building a "village" is good - but changing the culture of excessive drinking on campus is going to take more effort and innovation. As long as everyone thinks of alcohol as a harmless beverage instead of a drug, abusive drinking will continue. This country's premiere online alcohol education course AlcoholEdu.com was designed by your own Duke faculty and alumni! Why isn't AlcoholEdu required of all incoming freshmen before they arrive on campus? Why are Duke students being denied an education about the most deadly drug in America, a drug that kills six times more people than all illegal drugs combined? May God help the parent of "the next death" who has to suffer as I have.
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