For students interested in going to the moon, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a suggestion. Collect the number of beer cans college students drink in one year, stack them really, really high and start climbing.
According to the department, that number of cans is four billion — enough to go to the moon and 70,000 miles thereafter. College students spend $5.5 billion per year on alcohol, which translates to $466 per student.
Compare this to what University of Wisconsin students spend on books and food, and one finds a surprising correlation.
Patrick McGowan, president of the University Bookstore, said the average UW student spends “somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 per semester [on textbooks],” an amount he said has remained steady the past several years.
Despite this, students have varying opinions on how much books should cost.
UW senior Guy Pledger said he believes textbooks are over-priced.
“They put out new editions every few years,” he said. “To me it’s a sham, and it keeps prices high.”
Students also worry about how much they spend on food.
UW senior Jeremy Falk noted cafeteria food is cheaper than food on State Street.
“State Street isn’t applying to college students anymore because [restaurants there] cater to a wealthier class,” Falk said.
However, UW sophomore Connor McKnight said State Street diners such as Chin’s and Chipotle benefit students and are worth the extra bucks at bar time.
“They play for the bar crowd, they’re nice places for when your parents come, when you have dates,” he said.
While students flinch at spending large amounts of money on textbooks and food, many willingly spend even larger amounts on alcohol. The difference in the apathy for spending money for booze is that food and textbooks normally hit the pocketbook in large quantities — whereas alcohol purchases make a subtler, almost deceitful drain on one’s wallet throughout the course of the school year.
UW sophomore Matt Vanoosten said he generally goes to house parties and buys a cup.
“I would say $4 is pretty reasonable,” he said. “It’s cheap to drink all night on four or five bucks.”
Drinking in bars, or even purchasing from liquor shops, can raise the price of liquor drastically. Kelly Meuer, owner of State Street Brats, said students spend an average eight or nine dollars each at the bar on a given weekend night.
According to a report by the Health and Human Services, nearly half of all college drinkers are binge-drinkers who spend big bucks on alcohol.
Andy Beaulieu, a manager at Badger Liquor on State Street, said the amount students spend on liquor fluctuates.
“They usually spend about between six and nine bucks, but if they’re buying a bottle, they spend about 15 dollars,” he said.
Still, the money Vanoosten spends on alcohol does not bother him.
“Alcohol is just a gradual, once-in-awhile thing. But books are a lump sum payment,” he said. “It never really hits you that alcohol is so expensive. Knowing that alcohol costs me some $300 a year doesn’t prevent me from buying it because it’s no different than going to a movie once a week.”
