OPINION & EDITORIAL
UW, city need to remember students
Looking for a print version?
Simply choose ‘Print’ on your computer and a printer-friendly document will be generated.
Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- Madison's annual hip-hop conference falters (April 14, 2003)
- Dear Dave: Post this near your desk (April 17, 2003)
- Politicking destroyed opt-out's proponents (April 14, 2003)
- Don't Cut Historical Society Funds (April 29, 2003)
- Redirecting control (April 23, 2003)
Related Stories:
- Time to step up (April 24, 2002)
- Acceptable hypocrisy (May 2, 2002)
- The great drink debate (September 19, 2002)
- Drink specials get krunked (September 13, 2002)
- Chancellor Wiley throws down the gauntlet, again (April 30, 2002)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
When UW Chancellor John Wiley clashed with bar owners July 10 at an Alcohol License Review Committee meeting, he continued to bash drink specials and defend the Union’s extended late-night hours and $1.34 million annual alcohol sales. He reaffirmed his stance against downtown drink specials, debating with Bullfeathers owner Dick Lyshek, chastising bars for selling cheap liquor and failing to provide additional entertainment besides alcohol.
This attack on drink specials and the Union?s late-night hours is counterproductive. Banning drink specials and over-regulating bars may only encourage more students to cram into unsupervised house parties, which have a higher risk of injury or assault. Still, while later hours at the Union do mean increased alcohol sales, they also mean there will be two more hours of late-night events for students and greater opportunity to consume and have fun without binge-drinking.
Instead of fighting over bar regulation, UW, the city and bar owners need to start looking at different solutions — especially ones such as providing additional entertainment venues where drinking is not the only activity and enacting social-norm campaigns that help dispel the notion that everyone drinks at UW.
However, with the university and downtown bars bickering rather than working with each other, nothing is going to get done to help solve this campus’ drinking-related problems. And, as thousands of new freshman start arriving with wild notions and new freedom, UW and the city need to remember whom they are trying to help.
Freshman are the first ones who will arrive on campus with the idea that everyone drinks at UW, and in an effort to fit in they will be the first to pack into house parties, not know how much they can handle and be the ones most likely to hurt themselves or others late at night.
The university and the city meanwhile need to remember that students are coming back in August. The ALRC’s move to put off any decisions regarding alcohol policy until students return was a good first step. Now UW and the bar owners need to stop fighting and start working together to look at solutions that will actually start to improve this campus’ drinking culture. The students need to do their part, get involved and let UW and the city know that just the regulation of bars is not the solution.
