Thomas Mott Osborne: “not long ago the National Academy of Science released a report on preventing underage drinking. This week, the Final…”

“not long ago the National Academy of Science released a report on preventing underage drinking. This week, the Final Four NCAA basketball playoffs will occur. I believe there is a connection. The National Academy of Science report recommended that colleges and universities ban alcohol advertising and promotion on campus. Other important research points to the problem of alcohol consumption on college campuses. For example, the proportion of college students who say they drink to get drunk is rising. It is almost one-half. Underage drinking costs the United States $53 billion annually. There are roughly 3 million teenage alcoholics in our country. Despite these grim statistics concerning underage drinking, alcohol advertising accounts for more than one-half of college sports advertising revenue. The 2002 NCAA basketball tournament had more alcohol ads than the Super Bowl, World Series, college bowl games, and Monday Night Football combined. The basketball tournament has more than 16 times the rate of alcohol advertising as normal programming. A spokesperson from the NCAA recently said such advertising is 'not inconsistent with our mission.' I guess I would beg to differ with that statement. The NCAA statement of purpose indicates that part of its mission is to prepare student athletes for lifetime leadership. The NCAA handbook states that NCAA policies should exclude advertisements that do not seem to be in the best interests of higher education.”