State College has always been a drinking town with a football problem.

Drinking is ingrained within the culture of the town. Whether it be incoming freshmen or returning alumni, everyone who comes to Penn State wants to have a good time.

Many freshmen are up here for the summer to experience their first taste of college life. And they are enjoying their new freedom to the fullest, as can be seen by the fact that at least nine students have been charged with underage drinking since Sunday.

Considering that there are about 1,000 freshmen on campus, nine might not seem like a large number. But these rookies have only been here for a couple of days.

There's a problem here, one that extends beyond the responsibilities of Penn State, the State College Police Department or any outreach programs.

Both the university and members of the State College community have tried to counter the intense drinking culture through activities like LateNight Penn State, which features alternative activities to drinking in the HUB-Robeson Center on the weekends.

However, these activities are frequented by a minority of students, most of whom choose to ignore the alternatives and choose instead to spend their evenings drinking at fraternity houses.

And although there are far more productive things 18 and 19 year olds could be doing with their time, it's a far cry from reality to assume that drinking at Penn State is ever going to go away.

Penn State is not unique. Students at colleges throughout the country experience the same new freedom, and they all want to enjoy it to the fullest. Whether they drink or not, most students are just trying to make sure college is as fun as possible.

State College Police Sgt. Mark Argiro has said that Penn State could do more to curb underage drinking. Perhaps if more alternatives were offered, students might have more options. State College offers lots of fun if you are 21 and over, but there isn't much for students to do late at night downtown.

Freshmen, and most other college students for that matter, are going to drink, and not much can be done to stop them. But responsibility for one's actions must be taught. FTCAP teaches us not to assault each other and it would be great if they drilled in responsible drinking as well.

The bottom line, however, is that the decision to drink responsibly or irresponsibly always has and always will lie with the individual. In this case, underage freshmen are learning the same lessons so many of us have learned through our own experiences.

It's not Penn State's job to baby-sit freshmen. Teaching them responsibility once they get here might help a bit, but responsibility must be carried from high school into college.

We can blame society and lack of anything else to do all we want, but responsibility lies within the individual and they need to own up to their own actions.