The Greeks go dry.

Byline: The Register-Guard

To those who regard alcohol as being as much a part of the traditional college experience as football, pizzas and final exams, University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer's decision to ban alcohol from campus fraternities and sororities may seem extreme - or at least impractical. Yet the decision is a logical consequence of a commitment to adhere to existing UO policies and the law, particularly the law against underage drinking.

The harmless college kegger is a myth. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that drinking by college students contributes to an estimated 1,400 student deaths, a half million injuries, and 70,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape each year. One fourth of college students are estimated to have driven while under the influence of alcohol during the past year.

The UO is not exempt. Campus alcohol arrests have quadrupled over the past three years. Between 1997 and 2001, police issued 142 citations for underage drinking at UO fraternity and sorority houses.

Student drinking has taken an appalling toll at Oregon State University, where in the past two years two students have died in alcohol-related accidents at fraternity gatherings. Liquor violations at OSU have more than doubled from 1999 to 2001. Since 1997, Corvallis police have investigated 10 reports of sexual assault at fraternities, with alcohol playing a role in each of the incidents.

That is the disturbing backdrop for the decision Frohnmayer announced Friday. The UO president ordered Greek organizations - fraternities and sororities - to sign agreements by September committing themselves to becoming alcohol- and drug-free by December. The agreements are voluntary, but those that decline risk disaffiliation from the university, the equivalent of a death sentence.

It is easiest for college administrators to wink at drinking at fraternities and sororities, which is why the UO will become one of only a handful of universities in the nation with no-alcohol policies for Greek organizations. But Frohnmayer has done nothing more than demand compliance with standards that have been in place for years. Those standards have been ignored by some Greek organizations, to the detriment of others that have taken them seriously. To keep meaningless standards in place would have been hypocritical. Frohnmayer's only honest choices were to discard the standards, or ensure that violations would have consequences. He took the responsible course.

The new policy also enforces standards for minimum grade point averages, community service and membership development - a nice touch, given alcohol's heavy toll on each of those areas.

The new policy may simply drive some fraternity and sorority members to do their drinking elsewhere. University authorities and police will have to confront that legitimate concern - but it's also a concern that suggests a disturbing acceptance of the inevitability of excessive drinking in the Greek system.

Some also worry that the rules will make it difficult to recruit new members - the idea being that the fraternities and sororities have little to offer other than the promise of alcohol. If ready access to alcohol is indeed the primary attraction to prospective pledges, then it's time for Greek organizations to do some serious self-examination - or close their doors.

The policy prohibits both drugs and alcohol in fraternities and sororities. Both will undoubtedly continue to be used by some students, but the UO should not offer the advantages of university affiliation to organizations that won't take a stand against them. It's true that alcohol is legal while drugs are not - except for the fact that the great majority of fraternity and sorority members are under the age of 21, which means that most drinking that occurs in Greek organizations is not only contrary to the new policy but against the law.

The harm that college students do to themselves and others as a result of excessive drinking cannot be ignored. Frohnmayer's decision will reduce destructive drinking on campus, reinforcing long-standing university policies and state laws.