You may have heard about UW's new questionably titled Show and Blow"" policy, which requires students with a previous ejection or citation during a football game to blow into a Breathalyzer before games to prove sobriety. Mess up just once and you'll be blowing into a tube for the police before kickoff.
I was disturbed to learn about another UW guideline from a recent article in the New York Times: The parental notification policy. Under the policy, the parents of any student under 21 implicated in extreme alcohol or drug incidents, such as a trip to detox, will be informed by a dean.
The reasons cited by the university when implementing the policy were concern for student safety and to curb binge-drinking. Other incidents that can call for parent notification include behavior that puts the student's own or other lives in danger. This conveniently vague statement leaves plenty of room
for interpretation.
If the university expects students to act like adults, then it should treat students like adults. The hypocrisy of asking students to exercise good judgment and to act responsibly, while subsequently using looming threats to tattle to mom and dad is maddening and insulting.
Make up your minds, are we adults or not?
The timing of the policy's implementation is curious. It was enacted in September 2005, right on the heels of UW's coronation as the No. 1 party school by the Princeton Review. It was no secret that Chancellor John Wiley and Interim Dean of Students Lori
Berquam were not fans of the title.
The parent-notification policy seems to be the result of a UW administration grasping at straws for a solution to combat the reputation, and to deter students from drinking in excess.
However, the policy is misguided. Isn't part of the purpose of college to learn responsibility? Involving parents seems to be a step in the opposite direction.
Rather than forcing students to take responsibility, calling parents reinforces a notion that they are not yet adults, unable to control themselves and unaccountable for their actions. Dealing with the situation on their own is more likely to force the offender to take responsibility for their actions.
The policy is also incongruent with other university guidelines. There is a widely known university policy of not disclosing students' grades to parents. If this would be a violation of student privacy, how can the university justify notifying parents about their adult son's or daughter's drinking habits?
The only instance in which parental notification is justified is in extreme cases, when there is an intentional overdose or there was a real threat of death. However, in a large majority of instances, this is not the case. Sometimes people make mistakes and sometimes students exhibit poor judgment. That does not justify calling their parents.
It seems the university fails to realize that many students are independent and self-sufficient, paying their own tuition and working to get by. It is degrading for the princip... er, dean, to call their parents to tell them their son or daughter had too much to drink last night.
To add insult to injury, it seems this is not enough. The University of Wisconsin System is currently reviewing whether a UW school should be able to punish students for off-campus incidents, including receipt of off-campus under-age drinking tickets. Possible punishments could include academic probation or suspension, for an incident that didn't even occur on campus. If the university adopts this policy, individuals would be punished twice.
Most students are hardworking and responsible, who occasionally like to do a little partying, perhaps sometimes involving a beer bong or two. The university should give students a little credit, and some room to make the occasional lapse in judgment, rather than the threat of a call to the parental units or double punishment.
The university must remember its primary job is to educate, not to babysit the adults that chose to attend its hallowed halls.
Michelle Turcotte is a senior majoring in journalism. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
