With the stress of finals quickly approaching, University of Wisconsin students are hitting the books hard, but not without some partying to relieve the stress. The Madison Police Department, however, is hoping for more studying than partying.
The weeks before finals have proven chaotic during the spring semester, with the Mifflin Street block party falling just before the last round of exams for the year. According to MPD Central District Capt. Mary Schauf, the police department is not expecting that sort of spike in partying as the fall semester comes to a close.
"A lot of our data shows a downtrend in partying as students get focused [on finals]," Schauf said. "We might expect a little more partying right before the holidays, after exams, but we aren't taking extra steps for that at this point."
Schauf pointed out that the Community Policing Teams of the central district, which have been formed to better target problem areas and respond more directly to calls of service, will be available if needed.
According to Schauf, they have been useful in curbing unruly behavior during events such as Halloween, Mifflin and Badger football games.
These concentrated groups of officers provide flexibility in how the MPD handles different situations, whether it be breaking up individual parties or focusing more on informing students of the MPD's expectations.
If house parties do begin to get out of hand this upcoming weekend, CPTs can be expected to step in to control the problem.
"With house party enforcement, which adds to the workload of police … CPTs can identify and deal with the house parties. With parties so big that it's almost like they're advertising themselves, you're inviting the CPT to come," Schauf said.
House parties aren't necessarily on the top of students' to-do lists at this time of year, with the snow falling and study time mounting, but much-needed breaks can be expected. Amanda Austreng, a UW sophomore, recognizes the need to balance study time with play time.
"I have two exams on Saturday, one on Monday and one on Thursday. I can't really screw around in between," she admitted. "But Thursday night if anybody's here, we're going to be drunk."
Studying makes for one deterrent; the snow makes for another.
"I think that it's everyone's last weekend to really party before people go home for break and go abroad next semester, so that's going to make people want to go out more," UW senior Eric Adams said. "With the weather like it is, though, I don't think this upcoming weekend will be too huge."
Yet in the spirit of the No. 1 party school in the nation, there are determined partiers out to get their last hurrah of the semester. According to Jesse Charles, a UW sophomore, the students here put in a lot of time and energy during the semester with the expectation of rewarding themselves later with some much-needed party time.
"Students work hard during the semester and then during finals it's even worse. When you work that hard, you deserve to play just as hard," he said.
