by Dovid Schwartz ('17) In light of an upcoming debate, the MTA Debate team had the privilege of listening to a speech from Mr. Sragow concerning the current drinking age in the US. He started off by sharing the history of the drinking age law in this country, beginning with early colonial America, when all drinking was condemned by the Puritans, leading up to today when drinking under the age of 21 is illegal. He further explained the reasons one might support the resolution of the upcoming debate which is: "The drinking age should be lowered to the age of 18." One of the reasons he mentioned is that if 18 year olds are deemed responsible enough to vote, serve in the military, and benefit from numerous other rights, certainly they should be deemed responsible enough to drink. He later stated that the opposition might say that the antipathy to drinking was always a part of American history and for good reason. The first reason was women, who are the leading victims of drunken men, so the consequences of drinking extend far beyond the individual. The speech from Mr. Sragow was an enlightening experience both for the debaters and the rest of the students who participated.