SIU to Stick With Drinking Age--21

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Southern Illinois University won't be joining other schools in a push to lower the drinking age.

About 100 university leaders across the country have signed what's called the Amethyst Initiative. It encourages debate on the drinking age, including whether to lower it from 21 to 18.

Proponents say current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.

But chancellors of SIU's campuses in Carbondale and Edwardsville, along with SIU President Glenn Poshard (puh-SHARD'), say the university is content strictly enforcing the current law.

SIU says its 35,000 students are better off armed with information about the damaging effects of underage binge drinking.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal crashes.