Don’t blame polka tune for binge drinking
‘In Heaven There is No Beer,’ no fight songs, no advertisements, no experiences, no fun

Beer: an icon of the American collegiate experience.

Polka: an icon of the upper Midwest.

Together: disaster.

Once again, the celebratory actions of college students in America have come under scrutiny.

Whether it is the destruction of goal posts after football games or the age-old stealing of the opponent’s mascot prior to the “big game,” college students are continually portrayed as immature, inconsiderate, barbaric fans by the media and moms and dads alike.

Now, after an e-mail by Tom Aunan, an upset University of Iowa parent, 20 years of tradition has been thrown out the window.

The university’s marching band played and sang the polka song “In Heaven There is No Beer” for two decades in celebration of athletic victories before Aunan’s complaint prompted the university to ban singing the words.

According to the e-mail, these lyrics promote excessive drinking: “In heaven, there is no beer. That’s why we drink it here. And when we’re gone from here, all our friends will be drinkin’ all the beer.”

So now, despite the university’s defense that the song does not promote excessive drinking, officials forbade band members to alternate their instrumental work with singing.

So why is the university banning the lyrics if they don’t actually encourage excessive drinking?

They’re scared.

Rightfully so, universities across the nation are taking a closer look at the problem of excessive drinking.

Following the death of 18-year-old freshmen Scott Krueger at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997, many universities have faced lawsuits and sanctions calling for more control, particularly in their fraternal organizations.

The Krueger family was successful in its civil suit against MIT, and a number of other civil suits are currently pending against other universities.

Excessive drinking that leads to deaths and injuries and costly lawsuits is simply too much risk for universities to take.

These risks are what lead universities into making decisions to ban songs about drinking.

That’s why it took only one e-mail to change the policy at Iowa.

At other schools, like the University of Pittsburgh, it took the U.S. Supreme Court to help curtail excessive drinking.

The Pitt News, the university’s daily student-run newspaper, lost a case claiming its First Amendment free press rights had been violated. The court upheld a Pennsylvania law banning restaurant and bar advertisements in student newspapers. The legislature felt the ads encouraged binge drinking.

Despite the efforts these universities, parents and lawyers are making to curb binge drinking among college students, their policies are failing.

Instead, they are ruining traditions such as the polka tune at Iowa or damaging businesses like The Pitt News.

Drinking is a responsibility that lies no further than one’s own beer mug.

Until students realize this for themselves, there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

Instead of banning celebratory songs and advertisements, maybe the universities should concentrate on teaching a little personal responsibility.

After all, college-age binge drinking is not the rite of passage so many people, including many parents, have accepted it as. Instead, it is a personal choice.

Opinion Editor James Zwilling is a sophomore news-editorial journalism major from Phoenix.
He can be reached at (j.g.zwilling@student.tcu.edu).

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