SIU ALLOWS FRATERNITIES TO HAVE ALCOHOL AGAIN...

The sad headlines generated by out-of-control drinking at college fraternities have made a deep impression on school officials, fraternity members, students in general and the taxpaying -- and watchful -- public. The trend has been to ban alcoholic beverages at fraternity houses in hopes of ending needless deaths and mayhem.

Carbondale might be considered a classic case study. For years, the Halloween revelry left parts of the town in shambles as Southern Illinois University students maintained a steadily worsening reputation for reckless antics fueled, for the most part, by fraternity-inspired drinking.

In 1997, SIU officials took the same action as many other campuses across the country: no more alcohol at fraternities. An outright ban is always a blow to campus culture, and efforts to overturn the new policy have been unrelenting for the past three semesters.

Interestingly, the ban seemed to be having a positive outcome. As university and city officials gauged the post-ban results, they saw signs of improved fraternity behavior, more community service on the part of fraternity members and improved grades. In nearly every instance, the banning of alcohol from fraternities has been supported by the national leadership of those organizations.

Now SIU has changed its mind. Citing the fact that fraternity members are drinking in spite of the ban, the university has decided to allow fraternities to keep alcoholic beverages and serve them at parties. The school says this is a responsible decision, because it has imposed some strict rules along with its waiver of the drinking ban.

For example, fraternities that serve liquor at parties must have sober monitors, designated drivers and bartenders trained to spot drunks.

SIU's new policy is akin to the attempts of the federal government to impose loose morals on children by encouraging officials to hand out condoms at public schools. The rationale is that students are going to engage in sexual activity, so it's better that they are protected from unwanted pregnancies or sexually-transmitted diseases.

This kind of thinking overlooks the obvious. Just as children in the developmental stages of their sexuality are likely not to heed the warnings about unsafe sex, fraternity members also aren't likely to act responsibly once they have a few beers in them.

SIU officials concede their new and lenient policy is due to the fact that students didn't abide by the no-alcohol rule. What makes anyone think the students will go along with the drinking-with-restrictions rules?

In effect, our society now finds it much easier to hand over adult responsibilities to young men and women -- children even -- rather than imposing guidance for and limits to activities that have historically been reserved for adults.