On Jan. 29, Dartmouth University, one of the land’s most prestigous schools, announced that it had endorsed a campus-wide ban on hard alcohol. As a college student, that hurts my heart to hear. No hard alcohol!

The ban comes primarily to prevent sexual assault.

Dartmouth University, in recent memory, has experienced its share of sexual assault cases. Sexual assault in college is becoming a growing topic of discussion in America. The topic was supposed to have been covered in President Obama’s Jan. 20 State of the Union address, and was highlighted by his administration.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 97,000 students are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape.

We’re talking about 97,000 students. We’re talking about Dartmouth University. Ivy League’s own Dartmouth University. I thought the students up there just read books and graduated with 4.0s. Don’t let the prestige fool you.

How often do you hear about Dartmouth in the news about something as controversial and tainted as this?

Now, I’m of the mindset that the measure will make a small, if any, impact on college students. Let me present you with this question.

What’s more commended in college than the red plastic cup?

The red plastic cup is one of college’s most valued items. Red cups mean a good time. Red cups mean beer pong, which is the most famous college game of all-time. Red cups mean drink after drink or refill after refill. Red cups mean a party for the ages. Dartmouth is trying to annihilate red cups people.

Nine schools around the nation have already implemented similar bans, but in several cases there has been little to no change when it comes to alcohol-related hospitalizations. I would expect little or no change. College students thrive off of being drunk and barely recalling what took place the following night. Sure, that hangover may not feel good, but to some, it’s worth it.

College freshman foam out the mouth at the chance of getting insanely wasted and having a darn good time without consequence. To hell with rules, we’re going to drink until the break of dawn.

How do you enforce what is probably the most memorable part of college?

Now, excuse me for being totally dismissive of the real reasoning behind the banning. It’s to prevent sexual assault!

I hate to remind you, but Missouri Southern in most recent memory has experienced its own case of sexual assault/rape. Allow me to present you with another question.

Was hard alcohol involved?

Red cups may mean too many drinks for one man and reuslt in an unlucky lady. Red cups may mean perceived unneeded permission to take someone upstairs. Red cups in many cases may lead to sexual assault. As valued as red cups are to the college world, they are just as detrimental.

Missouri Southern may be a “dry” campus, but how well is that really enforced? When you take into consideration that a majority of students live off campus, the question remains — How do you keep sexual misconduct cases from happening?

All college students are the same, regardless of the university we attend. The banning of alcohol to the ear sounds utterly preposterous. But let it sink in like that red cup of Peach Amsterdam and Sprite. I think it’s a move in the right direction, and I applaud Dartmouth University for taking such actions.