To The Editor:
I am respondng to ” . . .Miss WCU and being a proud supporter of MADD as her platform, for the fight against underage drinking and drunk driving” from the Feb. 11 issue of The Quad.
Grace Chamberlain and Andrew Hopkins were college students, both 18, who never got a chance to drink legally. The guy who killed them on March 2, 2006 in Burton, Ohio was 47. Okay, so the guy was driving drunk, leading police on a chase, speeding, driving under suspension and driving left of center – but at least he was not drinking under age. And okay, so he did crash head-on into a car with three Hiram College students, killing two and critically injuring one, at least he was not buying alcohol for them. That is what matters to MADD. The guy already had 11 drunk driving convictions. Meanwhile, MADD pushed for sting operations, counterfeit-resistant ID’s, keg registration laws and harsher punishment for men and women under 21, who never consented to the drinking age in the first place, and who also get caught drinking responsibly. Outraged, fellow Hiram College students, including survivor Evan Dasilva, who was 19, went to Columbus to lobby the Ohio Legislature for tougher drunk driving laws. Senator Tim Grendell sponsored SB 17, which passed the Senate unanimously and now awaits action in the House. They did not need MADD. If you hate folks under 21, join MADD.
Tom Alciere
Webmaster, Underage Drinkers Against Drunk Driving