UW-Madison students may not have to wait until later this fall to find out the future of drink-specials in downtown Madison.
A coalition of campus area bar owners is holding a press conference tomorrow at the Nitty Gritty, at 2 p.m. to announce what most believe to be a series of voluntary restrictions.
\The majority of bar owners have agreed to very proactive initiatives on their part to influence in a positive way the negative impacts of campus area drinking,"" Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.
Verveer, who has worked closely with the coalition, said he hoped the initiatives will be enough to lessen the pressure from the Alcohol License and Review Subcommittee on Comprehensive Alcohol Issues That subcommittee, chaired by retiring Ald. Kent Palmer, District 15, came out with its own series of recommendations last year, including a drink-special ban after 7 p.m.
""Bar owners will be agreeing to regulate themselves on the area of drink specials,"" Verveer said. ""My hope is that efforts by both Bascom Hall and City Hall to meddle in the affairs of bar owners will be derailed.""
Despite Veveer's hopes Susan Crowley, director of UW-Madison's PACE Coalition, formerly known as the Robert Wood Johnson Project, said she was not in support of any voluntary measures.
""There's a significant problem with that in terms of monitoring and compliance of all the participants,"" she said.
The coalition is simply asking for some leeway to see if their proposals will create enough positive influence to avoid the restrictions set forth in the subcommittee's report, according to Verveer.
""I hope they will allow time to see if these initiatives will make a difference or not,"" he said.
