Beginning of article  THE RULES OF THE COLLEGE Drinking Game are
simple: Students must drink excessively, and politicians,
college presidents, and public health specialists must rail
excessively about the excessive drinking. They're missing the
mark, says historian Marshall Poe. "College drinking per se is
not the problem," he argues.  Not the problem? That may come as
a surprise to many, but Poe argues that the effect of alcohol on
campus is "largely positive." American higher education is the
envy of the world, and one of the reasons for that is that
colleges and universities have done something very difficult:
create strong communities and a sense of identity. From his
perch at the University of Iowa, Poe has observed that for most
students, "rowdy drinking is considered essential to becoming a
Hawkeye." Social events such as house parties, pregame
tailgating, and Greek life build cohesion, and all run on the
fuel of alcohol.  College life wasn't always this way. Until the
1970s, the drinking age in almost