Booze is news

Flip through the pages of today’s Collegian, and you might notice one subject Penn State students can’t seem to get enough of.

As much as Penn State administrators, borough officials, state legislators and your parents might hate to admit it, there’s really no denying that alcohol is a big part of many students’ college experience.

That’s why we devote as many inches in our newspaper to it as we do. And it’s especially why we’re running a weekly feature this semester called Alcohol Proof that profiles different members of the community affected by the alcohol culture in State College.

The idea behind the series was motivated by the Collegian’s desire to reflect our readership’s interest in booze – responsibly. The issue of alcohol at Penn State can be looked at from many different perspectives, so that’s what we’re doing with this series.

Today’s installment, written by staff writer Erin McCracken, follows a State College Police Department officer during a routine night on duty when he encounters several intoxicated students and residents.

We can neither ignore its influence on our readership nor ignore the ramifications that come with glorifying it.

We hope readers come away with, at the very least, an appreciation for the opinions on each side of the issue.