Representatives on a student governance committee planned recommendations Monday on the best direction for the university to take regarding alcohol regulation, weighing the shift in priorities Mayor-elect Paul Soglin’s administration will bring.
In light of the rapid change-over in the city’s local government given last Tuesday’s election results, which swapped current Mayor Dave Cieslewicz for Soglin, students serving on the Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs Committee said the campus can expect to see drastic changes in alcohol policy.
“Across the board, alcohol policy in Madison is going to be changing both at the campus and at the city levels,” Legislative Affairs Chair Sam Polstein said. “We’re going to see a very different composition of the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee and possible reforms or repeals of [the Alcohol License Density Ordinance].”
Soglin ran on the grounds that Cieslewicz’s ALDO did nothing to improve alcohol awareness or safety on campus or in the city, and ultimately failed to address drinking problems in the community.
Polstein said he will meet with Chancellor Biddy Martin and a diverse group of students, city officials and administrators in the coming days to discuss the possible changes the university might make to its current handling of underage drinking violations.
The committee unanimously agreed Polstein should recommend the university work with the Madison Police Department and the University of Wisconsin Police Department to allow for medical amnesty, which would encourage underage students consuming alcohol to call for medical attention for other underage friends without being penalized.
Under current UW and Madison city policy, there are no provisions to protect the caller from receiving underage drinking tickets and being penalized through the city and university process.
Polstein said there should “be no barriers” when a student’s life is at risk, and said UW officials have raised concerns about giving students a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Student representative for Dean Lori Berquam’s advisory board Danielle Feinstein said under the proposed changes students might not be entirely off the hook.
Currently, students cited for underage drinking receive two tickets: one for consumption and one for possession, Feinstein said. With medical amnesty, students still might be responsible for one of the two tickets, along with possible ramifications from the university – details she said need to be made clear to students ahead of time.
“There are possibilities of alternate on-campus punishments like losing living situations in public dorms – that should all be included in the drafting,” Feinstein said. “Students need to know in fine print what could happen after the fact if they call.”
Student representatives also debated the student perspective for an alcohol education program the university is considering implementing for UW students who receive drinking tickets or get sent to detox.
Legislative Affairs Vice Chair Hannah Somers said UW might require students who are caught drinking underage or are cited for violations such as disorderly conduct to attend a program called Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students.
Somers said the program consists of class sessions and individual counseling, depending on the nature of the offense. Students would be required to pay for the program and UW would follow through on program completion.
