Political conventions, Hurricane Gustav and other national events are swarming the airwaves.

In the meantime another topic is hitting closer to home on college campuses: whether the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18.

Various organizations and college presidents are taking a stance on the issue.

The Amethyst Initiative is a petition created by Choose Responsibility, a non-profit organization founded in 2007 and located in Middlebury, Vt.

It consists of a statement signed by 129 college and university presidents who believe that the current legal drinking age, 21, is not working.

Part of Choose Responsibility’s mission is to educate young adults and adolescents to make responsible decisions about alcohol and its use, said Grace Kronenberg, assistant to the director of Choose Responsibility.

One of the main purposes of the petition is to open up the topic for debate, discussion and a change of law.

“Many [presidents who signed the petition] support a lower drinking age,” but not all, Kronenberg said.

It is more of the idea that the legal drinking age of 21 has failed and it’s time to change the law, he said.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Nebraska stands firm on its position for various reasons. MADD is adamant in its opposition to lowering the legal drinking age.

“More than 1,000 lives are saved each year,” said Simera Reynolds, executive director of MADD Nebraska.

She said she depends on science and research to prove her point. The brain is not fully developed at ages 18, 19 or even 20, and alcohol and the developing brain are not a good combination, Reynolds said.

For MADD, the reasoning goes beyond science. Students need to stop and think, Reynolds said. A student would never think of breaking the law by stealing, but many break the law by drinking under age.

Nebraska Sen. Steve Lathrop from Omaha takes a stance on the issue concerning the topics of funding and safety.

“Federal governments sets the policy,” Lathrop said.

In order for a state to maintain federal funding for roads, the state needs to keep the legal drinking age at 21.

Roads in disrepair and the funding is enough reason to oppose lowering the drinking age, Lathrop said.

He said he would make an “exception for drinking in the military, but not at the expense of losing road funding.”

Public safety is also a concern, he said.

“The public safety issue is more important than the roads funding, and I would still oppose lowering the drinking age if roads funding was not part of the equation,” Lathrop said.

Project Extra Mile, an Omaha-based organization, has also taken a stance to oppose lowering the legal drinking age.

“Shame on you,” said Diane Riibe, executive director of Project Extra Mile, referring to the 100 college presidents who signed the Amethyst Initiative.

There is a “large body of evidence that shows that the 21 law works,” Riibe said.

Many organizations involved in the debate have taken extreme stances.

“I think it’s good that it’s being talked about. It is a societal issue that doesn’t lend itself to a quick solution,” said Tanya Winegard, vice president of Student Services for Student Life.

For Winegard, it’s not about one or another, rather it’s finding middle ground for a solution.

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, Winegard said, meaning that there is no definite solution with a black-and-white answer.

“Alcohol abuse is a complex issue on and off college campuses. The campus, however, is the place to address a responsible use of alcohol through a solid educational program,” Creighton President The Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., said in a statement. “I believe it is important to have an open and ongoing discussion concerning the cause and circumstances of binge drinking.”

Schlegel said the drinking age issue is one that has to be explored from many facets.

“My experience of more than 30 years of living on college campuses, tells me that the 21-year age limit has not resolved the situation,” he said. “It should be looked at in the broader context of education for responsible drinking.”

For more information on the petition, visit www.amethystinitiative.org.