Lowering the drinking age won’t immediately solve every drinking problem, but it’s the start of a cultural shift.

Rape continues to be a problem on college campuses, fraternities continue to perpetuate a dangerous hazing culture and underage drinking is tolerated at a majority of universities. Why is it that even though there are groups advocating for better sexual violence prevention and education on drugs and alcohol, American universities and colleges are plagued by these systemic issues?

“Binge Drinking!” says the American Sociological Association. If you’re nervous about the coming year, fear no more as feeling jolly and included is apparently as simple as having 13.7 drinks per week. (It may sound a little nauseating, but you can do it!

In his column on Wednesday, staff writer Gabe Cralley painted a picture that we all, perhaps, know a little too well: a drunk girl stumbling into a freshman dorm, saying, “How do I get out of here? I can’t find my way out of here.”

When we first heard about the recent influx of complaints from the University City community about noise and trash from Wash. U. students living north of campus, our thoughts jumped to concern about what this could mean for WUPD’s historically liberal alcohol policy.

Setting the national drinking age to 21 in 1984 brought about a steady decline in binge drinking in the general population—except in college students, a recent study found.