Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc. members put forward suggestions to curb underage drinking at a Thursday night panel, including creating a quota for underage citations issued per semester.
Although that plan has been shot down by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, CNI President Bob Holloway went on to discuss the important of increasing communication between the University of Wisconsin campus and community, including education programs to teach students about the consequences of binge drinking.
A 2007 neighborhood survey showed a consistent rate of drinking among UW students over the last 15 years and a fairly dramatic increase in alcohol-related calls to the police.
Dr. Richard Brown, physician and member of CNI, said students have to fear getting caught drinking for alcohol laws to serve as an active deterrent. Even after the number of patrons permitted in bars was capped last September, Brown said there still remains “the same issue of more intoxicated people in the streets late at night.”
Longtime Madison resident Rosemary Lee did not find the theories and statistics discussed in the meeting proactive. She said there was a tendency to place a lot of the blame for alcohol-related problems on students, causing them to feel devalued in the community.
“I interact with students almost daily,” Lee said. “Why do you suppose there are so few, if any, of them here tonight?”
Holloway also discussed increasing alcohol prices and taxes and the promotion of responsible beverage service. Providing education to students and screening through University Health Services were also mentioned.
“It wasn’t their fault that they got born into this alcohol culture that makes it normal to go out and get really wasted,” Brown said.
Additionally, Holloway said many alcohol-related issues can stem from legal drinkers who may easily influence impressionable underage students.
“On homecoming night, well over 50 percent of the people that I helped that were over-served or in trouble were between the ages of 35 and 55,” Lee said.
UW-Milwaukee has also made strides in working with neighborhoods surrounding their campus to influence the drinking behavior of their students.
Oscar Perez, a neighborhood relations specialist at UWM, spoke about many approaches to “bring calm to chaos.” He said one of the best ways to communicate with students is to have a “low-profile, non-confrontational approach.”
He proposed the Neighborhood Relations Committee travel around neighborhoods surrounding the campus at night to talk to intoxicated students in a non-threatening manner.
“They’re calling it double jeopardy,” Perez said. “Students want to exercise their own freedom.”
Lee said her interaction with students was on a different level than the panel members. She said treating the students as equals was necessary for progress.
“We can’t just come down like a sledgehammer all of a sudden,” Lee said.
The panel agreed it is vital to preserve student freedom while maintaining order off-campus, particularly downtown.
