More than 100 college and university presidents are calling for lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. President David L. Boren is not one of them.

“I do not plan to sign the Amethyst Initiative,” Boren said.

The Amethyst Initiative, launched in July, encourages presidents and chancellors of higher learning institutions to sign a “Rethink the Drinking Age” statement, which calls for public debate over the effects of the drinking age, according to the Amethyst Initiative Web site.

Currently 119 university presidents have signed the initiative.

The statement asserts current law promotes clandestine, off campus binge-drinking and questions the logic of allowing 18-year-olds to vote for president, enter into contracts and serve in the military, while forbidding them from drinking a beer.

Incoming freshman, Megan Gallagher, 18, considers voting a higher privilege than drinking and is confused about why she can vote, but not drink.

“I believe if you’re old enough to vote and fight for your country, you should be able to drink,” she said.

Supporters of the initiative represent some of the country’s best-known universities including Dartmouth, Smith, Ohio State and Texas A&M.

By signing the statement, supporters agree that their experience as college and university presidents convinces them that “21 is not working.”

Boren maintains that current laws to reduce alcohol-related crimes. What laws?

“Since we adopted our alcohol policy three years ago, alcohol-related offenses, including DWIs, have been reduced by almost 50 percent,” he said. “In addition, if the state government were to take such action, this would cost the state millions of dollars in state highway funding.”

The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act is a central component of the Amethyst Initiative. The legislation imposes a 10 percent penalty on a state’s federal highway appropriation for any state that sets its drinking age below 21.

Congress is due to reauthorize the transportation bill in 2009, and Amethyst Initiative is urging Congress to let the law lapse with out renewing it.

According to the initiative’s Web site, removing the legislation will not change a state’s drinking age, but it would allow for debate to resume after a 24-year hiatus.

Presidents who have signed the statement do not necessarily support lowering the drinking age, although the group generally favors education rather than legislation as a means of promoting moderation in alcohol consumption.

Geoffry Ortiz, business junior, said moderation could be a difficult concept for some students on campus, but a lower drinking age could work if some restrictions were applied.

“Some people are responsible enough to handle it at 18 and some people can’t,” he said. “But there are 40 year olds that can’t handle it either.”

The idea of moderation is an important component of the Amethyst Initiative’s message and was the inspiration of the group’s name.

In ancient Greece, the purple gemstone was widely believed to be an antidote to the negative effects of intoxication. Drinking vessels and jewelry were often made of amethyst and used during feasts and celebrations to ward off drunkenness and promote moderation, according to the initiative’s Web site.