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Drinking policies garner attention

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by Carl Jaeger

Thursday, September 13, 2007

It's no secret that underage alcohol consumption is a major issue at the University of Wisconsin, but instead of the issue being glamorized as it has in the past, UW is being applauded for its approach in curbing the problem.

The New York Times ran an article Wednesday about the UW administration's techniques for handling alcohol violations, including parental involvement and notification.

"Involving parents has a mutual effect, [as] parents are someone students respect," UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam told The Badger Herald Wednesday. "It's beneficial to us because we want to see this as a partnership and see that they are successful."

In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and a change of UW policy in February 2005, staff from University Housing and the Offices of the Dean of Students could contact a parent or guardian in an incident jeopardizing a student's life or safety.

Conditions potentially resulting in parental notification, Director of University Housing Paul Evans said, include transportation to a detoxification facility, attempted suicide or "posing a serious risk of health, safety, and wellbeing of themselves or others."

Evans said that notifying parents of such violations is in the best interest of student safety.

"It's not, we're going to tell on you," Evans said. "It's, what's happened is so serious that we really want to get other people involved in your life to help make you safe."

Evans said when UW calls a student's parent, they are in effect "asking for additional help so we know if they're going to be OK."

Berquam agreed with Evans, adding that UW "works with the students and talks about what happened."

Berquam said she was not sure if notifying parents is helping lower excessive drinking on campus, but said it undoubtedly helps students on an individual level.

UW's approach is being considered by other universities around the country, according to Ed Ehlinger, director of Boynton Health Service at the University of Minnesota.

"Several schools have jumped on and several schools are evaluating it," Ehlinger said. "We're one of the ones evaluating whether it's a good idea or not."

Ehlinger added that although some students cannot consume legally, students "need to figure out how to deal with the consequences of drinking."

"There's no data to say … if this is effective because lots of times parents don't do anything when they call anyways," Ehlinger said. "In some situations, I'm sure it could be good, and in others, it could not be helpful."

Overall, Evans said opening up dialogue between students and parents is a way to keep life-threatening events from happening again.

"I think we've had a lot of really good conversations with parents," Evans said. "In a lot of cases it's helped when we've been dealing with serious situations, and I think it probably has helped to generate some conversations with their son or daughter."

Berquam agreed, adding that student and parent relationships are important in this "critical" time in a student's life.

"When we asked students who would make the most sense to involve, they actually said their parents," Berquam said. "If there is a way we can partner with parents to assist in a student's success, that's what we want to do."

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