It's easy, and probably necessary, to be critical of Capitol Neighborhoods, Inc.'s complaints with regard to alcohol-related problems facing the downtown area. The report's proposed policies - including tax increases on alcohol and increased underage drinking citations - do everything to inflate the stigma that makes drinking attractive to so many students in the first place.
Equally unimpressive, though, is the manner in which UW-Madison conditions responsible"" drinking behavior. Many freshmen establish their drinking habits early in the school year.
While the UW-Madison organization PACE (Policy Alternatives Community Educations) emphasizes that ""environmental factors"" shape behavior, little considerations is given to the conflicting drinking philosophies of the two most popular living choices available to freshmen: the public dorms and the four University House-run private dorms, such as Statesider and
Towers.
University House's private dorms, which cater to hundreds of incoming freshmen each year, have a succinct, unstated policy: you pay more to drink more. Any private dorm resident is likely to fall into stereotypes about snobbery and overindulgence, yet the binge-drinking hysteria that takes place the majority of the week (Thursdays and weekends) by a faithful group of residents cements these perceptions.
Private dorm drinking is reinforced in troubling ways. The current drinking policy of University House stresses ""full compliance with local, state and federal laws."" Most house fellows take a total hands-off approach - the most conscientious of the group might tell residents to keep alcohol behind a closed door.
The encouragement of such unhealthy drinking habits by handpicked role models vindicates the ridiculousness that comes afterwards: think Statesider-Towers cul-de-sac on a Friday night. Compliance with any sort of law goes out the window entirely.
Yet, there is an attractive element to the limitless lifestyle of private dorms when you consider the prohibition-style protocol of public-dorm life. These strict rules are oppressive and consistently drive some in the public-dorm group to unsafe places - such as unsanctioned house parties - to get their already risky-dose of overindulgence. This additional element of vulnerability is as significant of a problem as the drinking itself.
The legal drinking age in Wisconsin is 21. Despite the fact that a large number of underage citizens are culpable for breaking state law, the private and public dorm sets are handed opposing lists of expectations.
Each alcohol policy plays to an extreme. On the side of the private dorms, a limitless environments breeds students who binge drink consistently and populate a large sector of the underage bar scene. On the public dorm side, satisfying the most law-abiding, neurotic parents with an unrealistic policy gives students more of a reason to rebel against these boundaries. It is this contradiction of expectations and conflict of environments that rightfully confuses each incoming class of freshman at UW-Madison.
There is no model for moderation at UW-Madison; alcohol plays no positive role in university functions. Even living situations that allow new students to test the boundaries of their respective housing fail to bring the community back to its ever-present goal of moderation.
As long as both of the dorm systems exacerbate drinking problems by pandering to opposing, unrealistic expectations about ""responsible"" behavior, moderation continues to seem unattainable for underage students.
Levi Prombaum is a freshman majoring in psychology. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
