The University of Iowa has decided to ban alcohol at fraternity houses beginning in 1999. The 23 fraternities must adhere to the university’s request or else lose university recognition.

The decision was in part a reaction to the death of freshman Matthew Garofalo at Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity in 1995. Garofalo, 19, passed out and died from fluid in his lungs after excessive drinking. His blood-alcohol level was .188. He had been left unattended after he passed out.

This is a wise move on the behalf of the U of I, and is something Iowa State officials should consider for ISU fraternities. The reason: Uri Sellers — enough said. This argument is enough for university officials to at least consider following in U of I’s footsteps by conducting a study looking into the drinking in the greek system. It is enough of an argument that the Veishea Advisory Committee should have considered it more thoroughly in its report.

There are three dry fraternities — FarmHouse, Sigma Nu and Alpha Sigma Phi. All have taken proper steps to curb drinking (and rising insurance rates).

A dry fraternity doesn’t mean no drinking—it just means no drinking in the house, and therefore, no big parties at the house. There are many quality fraternities on this campus which are wet and are run properly. It is too bad their image must be tarnished by fraternities who do not adhere to the rules of partying safely. For example, RUSH, under Interfraternity Council law, is supposed to be dry. Nonetheless, some fraternities don’t adhere to this rule.

Should drinking be the image of these fraternities to new members?

No. Historically, fraternities were founded to be literary and debate societies. ISU should look into taking measures similar to Iowa’s to help ensure what happened to Sellers and Garofalo doesn’t happen again.