When students hear the title “Alcohol Policy Coordinator,” it can conjure up an image of a fun-hating, party-busting tyrant obsessed with eradicating alcohol and hell-bent on punishing those sinners who choose to drink that vile elixir. Some may be pleasantly surprised to find that Katherine Plominski, who is now celebrating her two year anniversary as the “bar czar,” is not out of touch with our generation, nor is she looking to stop all of the madness that makes Madison so unique. Rather, she has been working toward implementing environmental changes to increase student safety and encourage students and establishments that serve alcohol to practice more responsible drinking and serving habits.
At the time that Plominski took her job she was in her final year of law school – a student just like us. She has since graduated, but at 27 she is close enough in age to the student body to relate to and understand our needs. Although she admits she does not have the stamina for marathon bar crawls that last until 3 AM, she is no granny hitting the hay promptly after the ten o’clock news. In other words, she been to the bars in Madison and is savvy to the unique needs of the patrons who frequent them, many of whom are students.
One rumor Plominski, a former bartender, wants to dispel is the hysteria over the supposed increase in bar raids. According to her, citations typically associated with such raids are actually down. Besides, as Alcohol Policy Coordinator, her main focus is not to increase fines and enforcement, but to change the climate surrounding alcohol practices which put students at risk. This is a terrific attitude for some who truly wants to invoke real, lasting change.
Furthermore, she is not interested in nabbing your fake, but she does seek action against those establishments which make themselves more attractive to underage clients. Once a bar or club gains a reputation as the place that will let anyone in, soon enough it begins to draw an unpredictable, perhaps uncontrollable crowd. After all, who should be punished: the student who merely takes an easy opportunity to get around a weak system or the irresponsible club that permits Papa Georgio to enter their premise with a phony ID unfit to even gain access to Memorial Library?
When it comes to student safety, Plominski is unflinchingly opposed to allowing bars to operate under dangerous conditions. One issue is fire hazards, particularly concerning those bars which habitually crowd patrons on upper levels or pack them into lower-level basements. On her watch, she wants to assure that no student is injured in a collapse nor should he or she have to stumble up a stairwell littered with empty beer bottles to escape a fire. Although bars in the latter situation often have multiple exits, the tendency for someone who may be tipsy is to exit the same way he or she entered.
Another key issue is lack of licensed and properly trained people in taverns. Right now, state law requires that only one person on the premises be a licensed bartender. This means that only one person out of a potentially large staff needs to go through online training and pass a background check. While some establishments ensure that all employees serving liquor are licensed, Plominski estimates that currently only 20 percent of bar staff in the downtown are licensed. Eighty percent is an alarming majority of servers without background checks when one considers that these people are serving a decision-impairing substance. With possible history of alcohol abuse or sexual assault neglected, it may be impossible to know if Feely McToucherson or Not-So-Sober Sally is serving up your brew of choice.
To combat these two issues, the city offers free tavern safety training and Plominski is working with the police department to consistently improve and streamline the classes. Currently, this training is entirely voluntary, but under her plan it could be required for certain employees. Plominski notes that additional requirements for a bartender’s license would require a change in state law so for now, she hopes to one day be able to get the training program certified by the state, thereby offering a more local, comprehensive, and cost-effective alternative to other state-certified training courses required to obtain a bartender’s license. Again, education and improving the overall atmosphere concerning alcohol is her approach.
Some recent data shows that perhaps these environmental approaches are finally yielding some results. From 2006 to 2009 early fall UWPD student detox data shows that the number of student detox transports is down and the corresponding average BAC is down (from .025 in 2006 to .017 in 2009). In addition, density plan data shows that there has been a reduction in large-scale house parties (from 21 in 2006-07 to 14 in 2008-2009). The advances may be modest, but this illustrates that preventative measures truly can reverse established patterns.
Her job is by no means an easy one, but Katherine Plominski’s commitment to student safety and ability to influence positive changes deserves recognition. This article only highlights a few of her most notable achievements and offers only of morsel of information about the strong stance she has taken for the betterment of all students on campus, not just those who are of legal age to go to bars. As students, we should recognize her as an ally and a worthy advocate for positive change.
Holly Hartung ([email protected]) is a sophomore with an undecided major.
