In a rare joint press conference yesterday, Dean of Students
Luoluo Hong and Madison Police Department Captain Luis Yudice sat
together and announced a joint initiative to combat “unsafe” house
parties in the greater campus area. While understated in tone,
Wednesday’s meeting was a clear signal to the would-be revelers of
Breese Terrace and College Court: UW’s proverbial sabre of
prohibitive sobriety has again rattled. Students have no reason to
expect the collective sword of university administrators and city
officials will remain sheathed against student drinkers for the
duration of the academic year.
Make no mistake about it: though not present at the podium
(perhaps a symbolic public-relations maneuver), the minions of UW’s
vaunted Policy, Alternatives, Community and Education (PACE)
machine stand behind this new initiative. The group, comprised of
students and University Health Services staff, seeks to curb the
negative effects of high-risk binge-drinking with the use of
private grant money.
Watchful readers may remember PACE’s informational meetings and
discussion groups of the past academic year, which lead to a
suspension of weekend drink specials. We had hoped the group’s
crusade would end there. Sadly, this proved a wishful notion. We
have seen the work of PACE against house parties thus far in
published guides and benign awareness efforts, but we must prepare
for the same political pressure once reserved for curbing drink
specials now applied to house parties.
Dean Hong and Capt. Yudice touted the value of a manual produced
“by students, for students” with tips on holding a safe house
party. Yet, for all practical purposes, conforming to the safety
instructions in this “guide” requires Ovaltine and a Scrabble
board. Its tenets draw largely on simple common sense. Its
proposals fail to take into consideration the reality that students
drink heavily, seek to meet new people, and engage in behavior that
is distasteful to some while attending house parties. Yet, such
behavior is not necessarily “unsafe” from the standpoint of good
public policy.
Yudice and Hong insist this initiative is not a new incarnation
of the now defunct “Operation Sting” or “Party Patrols.” While we
have no reason to doubt their intentions, their general lack of
specificity on the scope of any new enforcement initiatives leads
us to believe Yudice and Hong are falling short of full
disclosure.
We find it hard to believe the goal of “furthering dialogue”
necessitates a high-profile press conference, and this raises red
flags. Yudice says more aggressive policing procedures are not
currently underway, but nowhere in today’s presentation were they
explicitly ruled out.
Campus-area revelers remain deep within a trap of uncertainty
regarding how police exercise discretion while regulating house
parties. As students, we must ask of law enforcement: What exactly
is considered safe and what is unsafe? Which activities will yield
immediate police attention, and which will not? While dialogue is
certainly a noble goal, students need a bit of direction for a
sense of security when their parties are indeed safe. Authorities
must tell us which transgressions will be punished and which will
not so students can avoid stiff penalties and hazardous
situations.
The bottom line in this debate involves fostering a spirit of
pragmatism and transparency: UW students are going to drink. And
some, albeit a small minority, will choose to do so in an unsafe
and irresponsible manner. Others will drink heartily, safely and
sociably. Either way, students need direction from campus and city
authorities as to how law enforcement officers on the beat make
critical enforcement decisions. Vague, sabre-rattling press
conferences are not the answer.
To this end, we call on the Madison Police Department to provide
students their own printed guide, explicit in its content and
pragmatic in its guidance — describing what constitutes a safe
house party and what does not. Police must make clear distinctions
between noise and danger, between a crowded room and a firetrap.
And their enforcement of these standards must be consistent.
Quaking, aged balconies packed with revelers are not safe and
deserve police attention; this much is sure. Fifteen friends
enjoying some beer and a game most certainly do not. But these are
the extremes.
It would be far from our purview to suggest Madison Police
officers stray away from a clearly dangerous situation. The
possibility of a Chicago-like balcony collapse at a Madison house
is real and would be nothing short of nightmarish for all members
of the UW community. But just as PACE and the dean’s office believe
two-way communication is essential to combat the problem, a bit of
one-way communication and clarity from campus and city officials
would push the movement for safe partying further, faster. Only
then will “dialogue” meet progress.
