University of Wisconsin-La Crosse officials are reconsidering campus alcohol safety initiatives after the death of a UW-La Crosse student last week.
UW-La Crosse students and faculty mourned the death of 21-year-old Craig Meyers, whose body was recovered from the Mississippi River Feb. 16, two days after he was reported missing.
“The facts surrounding Craig’s death indicate that he was the victim of a very unfortunate accident, one in which alcohol played a highly significant role,” UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow wrote in an e-mail to UW-La Crosse students Feb. 19.
Meyers’ death is the most recent in a chain of alcohol-related drowning deaths at UW-La Crosse.
“There is obviously something about our riverfront area — it’s a nice place where students go to relax,” Gow said. “The problem is when [students] drink too much they go there because it’s a familiar place.”
As a result of deaths over the years, UW-La Crosse has teamed up with two other area colleges to form a volunteer initiative titled “Operation River Watch,” Gow said.
Gow added the initiative, which started in 2006 to provide late-night patrolling of the riverfront, has already rescued about 50 intoxicated students.
“The tragedy has certainly renewed interest in doing all we can to prevent losses like these,” Gow said. “The challenge of course is determining what can be done.”
UW-Madison has taken a number of measures to reduce alcohol abuse on campus, but there is still work to be done, officials said.
“There are lots of reasons why students drink, and no single intervention as the answer,” said Aaron Brower, UW vice provost for teaching and learning and principal investigator on the PACE project.
The PACE project was started 14 years ago as a way to address high-risk drinking by focusing on developing policies, educating students and providing alternatives on the UW campus, Brower said.
He said the project has enacted many strategies to reduce the consequences of high-risk drinking.
For example, incoming freshmen receive a letter from the chancellor that identifies expectations for behavior and the residence halls have “no guest policies” for Halloween and Mifflin Street Block Party weekends.
“If students drink and there are no negative effects, then it’s their choice,” Brower said. “It’s when drinking leads to violence, sexual assault, dropping out of school and other problems that it becomes our concern.”
In the worst cases, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to students being admitted to detox facilities, Brower said.
He added about 120 students were sent to detox during the 2008-09 academic year.
“Police records show the average blood alcohol content of people transmitted to detox at about three times the legal limit,” Brower said.
Brower said it is important for students who are worried about the safety of their friends to put those concerns over the fear of getting a ticket.
“Students think they are going to get themselves or their friends in trouble, so they don’t call the cops,” Brower said. “That’s when something really bad can happen.”
