Memories of my 21st birthday

I had a birthday last week, on April 5. I spent the night at a storm spotter class. I can now recognize different types of storms from quite a long way away.

Believe it or not, it was a more memorable birthday than the one I had four years ago, the big 2-1. How is that possible? Well, I?ll tell you.

In the spring of 2007, I was a resident advisor in a dormitory called Friley at Iowa State University. A resident advisor is someone who watches over the students who live on a particular floor. The advisor has limited custodial duties such as picking up the trash in the hallway (or at least that?s what I did). We advisors were also trained in academic counseling, which consisted of finding the library on a map.

The advisor is also in charge of enforcing university policies ? my favorite part of the job. Those who are familiar with dorm life know how noisy it can be. Not on my watch! I was the Darth Vader of dorm advisors, and my residents knew it. They got one warning, and after that, the hammer came down. To the Dean?s office with you! What I?m trying to say is that I was strict.

In addition to ensuring a quiet study environment, I was tasked with keeping my floor free of underage drinking. Only a handful of my residents were old enough to drink. I spent many sleepless nights wondering who was responsible for all those empty cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the bathroom. For the kids? sake, I hope it was the janitor.

As my 21

^st

birthday approached, my dorm-mates badgered me about how I would celebrate it. They all thought I would go to a bar. I was old enough to do so legally. Why wouldn?t I go to a bar? I didn?t go because I wanted to set a good example. My residents couldn?t understand that. So let me explain.

What signal do I send by immediately drinking alcohol as soon as I can? The signal is that alcohol is something you want to drink. It?s something that everyone, including the advisors, look forward to drinking. Sending that signal was counterproductive to our efforts to reduce drinking on campus. If we wanted students to drink less, wouldn?t it make sense to take the luster out of liquor?

My fellow advisors did not see eye to eye with me on the issue. They didn?t see anything wrong with of-age drinking, even by members of the staff. It was only underage drinking that was problematic, they said. This suggests that the main reason to avoid drinking is the punishment, not alcohol?s harmful effects. It was as if even the authority figures recognized the capriciousness of the law.

Oddly, I was one of the few advisors who objected to the law. I thought the drinking age, if it must exist, should be lower. And yet, I believed that as long as we enforced a 21 drinking age, we should at the very least pretend there was reason behind it. The law is too easy to escape for it alone to make a dent in underage drinking. Abstaining from alcohol must be thought of as a virtue for students to turn away from it. That was the philosophy I projected through my actions as an advisor.