In line with goals to reduce binge-drinking in the UW community, members of the University of Wisconsin PACE Project convened Thursday night to review a recent draft penned by the house-party task force.
Director Susan Crowley said the report emphasized education, awareness, accountability, and enforcement with regard to student drinking.
“If students are aware of suggestions that we have found to work, I think it will create a safer atmosphere,” UW senior David Brunow said. “We’ve heard people talk about ways to be safer. What we’ve found is that there may not be awareness of what actually goes on at parties.”
Fears about property damage, sexual assault, police intervention, theft and personal injuries were central to the group’s suggestions.
“[Something] as simple as locking doors denies people access to valuables and dramatically reduces the chance of sexual assault,” said Brunow. “Students need to know that when the police arrive, they aren’t issuing citations to them. It’s the tenants that are in trouble.” Brunow added that students would more readily respond to the task force’s report because it has a close connection to the student population.
“These are actually students who have been there. This isn’t just someone preaching to them,” Brunow said.
The meeting also focused on landlord and neighbor accountability in regard to house-party issues. The taskforce requested landlords keep track of their tenants, including specific penalties for excessively noisy house parties or property damage in lease agreements. Katherine Loving of University Health Services noted a lack of communication between tenants and landlords that persists until problems arise.
“We’re working towards landlords being more involved in this process,” Loving said.
The neighborhood associations also cited a need to improve communication with student tenants.
“There is a dynamic tension between student neighborhoods and long-term residents,” said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
“The neighborhood representatives felt that if they communicated with students, it would give them some way of discussing problems,” Crowley said.
In closing, the taskforce addressed its suggestions for the enforcement of unruly house parties, with examples including citations for uncontrolled parties and implementation of lease-termination clauses for excessive city violations.
“I would hesitate to put in a clause restricting parties for fear that it would invalidate the lease,” said Tim Wadlington, of Steve Brown Apartments.
The report is the culmination of a year of committee members’ work on house-party issues. The taskforce agreed to finalize the report within a week.
“Some of these suggestions are fairly straightforward; others will take time,” Crowley said. “We want to distribute this report widely.”
