Special Edition Post
Well well.
I've been waiting quite some time for this day. This the day that my opinion to the Decorah Newspaper got published online (link at bottom of the page). The article is in response to an opinion previously submitted to the paper about underage drinking. (I have to give you a summary of what it said because they took the link down). Three Luther College seniors submitted the article (Dain Tepoel's name did not make the article, he deserves credit as well.) about how underage drinking is a problem in Decorah. They talk about how in their Paideia Alcohol Capstone class during J-term that they studied various method. Moreover, they direct the article at the community. They say that in order to help stop the "problem" with underage drinking, they should not simply place pressure on the college to take care of the problem. They claim that in their studies that the community must help aid the situation just as much. I couldn't agree more with that method to stop this "problem" that underage drinking can be. BUT, the problem is that there was never a problem here with underage drinking. Not that I have ever heard of, or ever have seen. And it remains yet to be seen every time I read their article that they ever describe exactly what the "problem" was with underage drinking in the community. After some of Luther College's Administration read the article, they pretty much flipped out. Essentially Luther called on authority in Luther to crack down on underage liquor sales in Decorah. Everywhere from the cops, to the gas stations, and most importantly the bars.
When I realised that my drunken well-being in the town had greatly increased in danger. Of course I can still have 21 year olds buy for me. But now when I'm carrying a drink at the bar I have to look over my back to make sure there isn't a friendly man with a badge on his chest looking at the stamp on my hand. This really upset me, so I decided to make something of what I thought and it comes in a link package as such. Comments are very much appreciated. Here is the link below. Enjoy.
http://www.decorahnewspaper.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=28&ArticleID=9707
posted by Taye Povs at 5:41 PM
5 Comments:
Atta boy Povs. Congratulations on getting published.
You have addressed a central flaw, which is, underage drinking is not a problem in of itself besides that it is breaking the law. However, problems can be caused by underage drinking, but I highly doubt that the problems resulting from drinking would not happen if everyone was sober. One does not have to be drunk to urinate on vehicles, steal lawn signs, knock over garbage cans, and drive recklessly.
Thanks man.
You bring up a good point that I leave out of the complaint. I do realize that I'm leaving out all the bad things that can happen whilst you're drunk. As harmless as Decorah, IA may seem bad things can still happen. As we recall a couple years ago there were a number of people who disappeared after they left bars from small town colleges (St. John's, LaCrosse, and Eau Claire I believe). Indeed these are situations that can happen to anyone anywhere. But it should be remembered that it can also happen to 21 year olds just as well. But we also should remember that we have squad cars goin up and down the main drag throughout all of the bar hours. Even in the alleys behind the bar. They take good care of us.
Actually dude, i think you said it without saying it. You asked them to state a problem with underage drinking several times in the article besides that they are breaking the law. sure, you didn't address it outright, but i'm not sure it needed to be said. again, nice work.
Good job, Scotty! That's awesome that someone was finally articulate enough to make a worthwhile argument on the issue of underage drinking. After visiting other countries and seeing that underage drinking is hardly noticed, let alone considered a problem, I personally find the drinking laws in the US to be completely dumb, but we'll leave my thoughts out about that issue for now. I feel like you brought up some good points, and that your article will cause many people to think about things. You may anger people in the community, but that's good. That's the point of letters to the editor. This issue has been going on for years in Iowa City and I've seen tons of letters supporting both sides of the issue, and your letter is one of the better one's I've seen. You don't try to deny the fact that underage drinking exists, but you also don't place the blame on anybody. It's a very mature article, which is rare. A lot of articles written by people our age are stupid and blame unnecessary people for their own actions. Overall, I'd say your article will have a positive effect on the Luther and Decorah communities. Thanks for being brave enough to respond to the original article.
Well done!
Let's not forget Jerry Lewis and also Huey Lewis (and The News).
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