Opinion
Enough is too much for party school
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Also by Julia Fieldbinder:
- Fieldbinder - Abstinence-only education lacking (December 2, 2005)
- Skyrocketing tuition hurts class selection (November 18, 2005)
- Concealed-carry misunderstood (February 6, 2006)
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Earning the title of the No. 1 party school in the nation is something that many students here are proud of. Our school is known for being a place where students like to have fun, but lately it seems that this behavior has gotten too out of control and even dangerous.
Last fall, the school started a campaign called "Rolling Out the Red Carpet" in an effort to create a welcoming environment at our home football games. Selected students act as "fan ambassadors" and greet fans, hand out giveaways, and provide those with information who are unfamiliar with the Madison area. This was formed in response to numerous complaints that the UW student conduct at football games was out of control. Many visiting fans from the opposing team were offended by our behavior and didn't want to return to Camp Randall after the way they were treated here. Camp Randall is known as one of the best places in the country for college football because of the students' enthusiasm, but, lately, that enthusiasm has turned vicious when it involved fans of the opposing team.
Next, we have the highest number of students sent to detox out of any school in the nation. There have already been 30 students sent to detox this semester. In an effort to bring these numbers down, police are issuing more citations and calling the parents of underage students who have been caught drinking multiple times. Officers who come here from out of town are often shocked at how out-of-control the drinking scene is and understand the need for these measures to be taken.
Finally, there is Madison's famous Halloween celebration — something for which our school is well known. UW students, along with many people from outside the area, flock to State Street in a large celebration of Halloween. Sure, people go to State Street to see everyone in their costumes. However, there are also those who come to starts riots, vandalize and fight. The police patrol on this weekend each year is significant, and there have been many attempts to suppress the activity on State Street and even cancel the event.
Drinking and partying is an undeniable part of the student culture here at Madison, but when is enough simply enough? When it gets to the point that it puts your life in danger, causes fans of the opposing team at football games to never want to return to Camp Randall or destroys the State Street area, it seems a change has to be made. Drinking is a part of college life at pretty much any school, but UW students need to take it down a notch.
Julia Fieldbinder (jfieldbinder@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in communication arts.
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Agreed. Numbers are sticky to deal with, mainly because we have so many students. But the principle is correct.
There shouldn't be any life-threatening injuries. Remember the freshman last year who flipped over a balcony BEFORE SCHOOL EVEN STARTED? A promising, bright young man's future was wiped out in the name of a little fun.
Having fun and enjoying your early years of adulthood is a perfectly reasonable thing to. Enjoying these years responsibly is one of the most important things one can do. Let's work to take a step in that direction.
This article is so ridiculous, I don't know where to begin, so I'll just go in order.
1) Fans from other teams only write letters to the chancellor when they have a bad experience. The 99 percent of fans who come here and have a great time probably rarely write Wiley. The "visiting fans are treated poorly" argument is way overblown. Visiting fans are treated no better or worse here then most other college football venues. And where in your article do you actually say that alcohol is the cause of this? Wait, you didn't. You can assume it, but that doesn't make it true.
2) Police are not calling parents over detox, UW is. And what does "issuing more citations" mean. At bars? house parties? random people walking drunk on the street? Another assumption with no fact to back it up.
3) Nothing on State St. was destroyed this year. please don't generalize. Plus, when only 15 percent of the arrests for two Halloweens in a row are UW students (had to go to the cardinal to get that info), doesn't that prove that we are the most responsible drinkers during the Halloween celebration?
This is a poorly researched, bland opinion piece. There is zero substance to your arguments and no factual evidence presented. I can't believe this actually ran in print. We're more intelligent readers than this.
Oh, wow. You came up with three unresearched reasons why UW students' drinking is out of control. Kudos.
I have to agree with every point Anonymous #2 made. This article is pretty much the lamest Herald article I've ever read -- and I've read plenty. Well, okay -- it's less lame than the story in which the author spelt the word "won" as "one."
A 439-word article = spacefiller in my mind. Get some content, people!