This year, the city and UW-Madison officials are going buck wild in their attempts to curb alcohol consumption among university students on and off campus. First, Mayor Paul Soglin introduced a Nuisance Party Ordinance that has the potential to put students on a ""chronic nuisance list."" Then, he voiced his plans to halt the 2012 Mifflin Street Block Party, and now Dean of Students Lori Berquam looks to wean UW students off of Old Thompson's teat through the initiation of alcohol awareness seminars.
Last Thursday, Berquam sent a campus-wide e-mail warning students of stricter punitive measures for alcohol violations. As a result of a decision by the Chancellor's Alcohol Group, students will now be required to take one of two alcohol education courses offered by two community partner organizations depending on first offense violations. In her e-mail, Berquam noted that ""Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students, or BASICS, is a program designed to help college students make healthier choices regarding alcohol use.""
And this means all students.
BASICS classes can be taken in two forms. This first is a group session geared toward any first-time violators and consists of two 90-minute periods. The second is a one-on-one course designed for habitual alcohol abusers or students with more serious violations, such as a detox visit.
The course aims to educate students about alcohol consumption as it applies to them personally. From information about specific blood alcohol levels to safe drinking practices, the course has the potential to be an extremely valuable tool for students who participate in the weekend binge.
While the initiative seems to be the perfect middle ground between strict alcohol awareness methods and maintenance of, as Berquam puts it, ""[UW-Madison's] vibrant social scene, rife with different ways to have fun with your friends,"" one glaring flaw seems to undermine the entire program: The price.
After committing just one minor offense, students may have to fork over $78 to participate in group BASICS classes, which is nothing compared to the $200 needed for the one-on-one sessions. I understand that breaking the law comes with consequences, but adding these additional charges ultimately sucks struggling students dry.
UW-Madison needs to realize that BASICS program costs are on top of underage drinking tickets that can reach up to $263.50 for first-time offenders, detox costs that can peak at $407 for each stay and any additional charges determined by a judge.
One of the only perks to the BASICS fee is that it qualifies the program to act as a substitute for the state initiated Alcohol SMART class—a course issued by a judge for individuals looking to reduce penalties. In this case, students won't be required to take the Alcohol SMART course if they inform the judge they will enroll in the university-run BASICS program. But why a personal misconduct becomes the university's business is somewhat controversial.
That said, involving the university in a strictly citizen-state issue forces students to take on additional consequences that normal citizens aren't subjected to—penalizing students substantially more than the state requires. Of course, benefits exist when the university intervenes with a repeated alcohol abuser, as officials have the opportunity truly to insert themselves into a problem situation. However, first-time offenses don't tend to warrant these outstanding costs and additional penalizations.
Many students who receive their first drinking ticket are just the unlucky candidates chosen from an oversized hat. In this case, students will likely receive their drinking tickets, do community service and ultimately pay their debt to society. Adding on another $78 dollars and three more hours of course time in the hopes of telling a 20-year-old he has to wait one more year before he is mature enough to handle his booze is excessive.
It's great that the university is trying to educate students about proper alcohol use, especially with Madison's prevalent drinking culture. But forcing students to attend these seminars as well as fund them is too much of a financial burden to take on.
Clearly government and university officials are taking an iron-fisted stance against student alcohol consumption. This year, most every initiative designed to restrain alcohol use is targeted toward students, costing badgers an arm and a leg in the long run. In order to show the state that these penal measures are unwarranted, students need to be proactive in the conversation about proper alcohol use and policies. It's important that students, now more than ever, prove the state wrong and demonstrate they are responsible enough to drink socially in such a vibrant and diverse campus environment. If not, the city and university students will ultimately make sure they pay more than just cash for their misconducts.
Sam Witthuhn is a senior majoring in journalism and political science. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
