Alcohol abuse is one of the most commonly used phrases to describe when an individual who decides to drink a lot of alcohol in a short period of time. It used to be called getting drunk, and getting drunk used to be considered an embarrassment. However, getting drunk has now become a badge of honor among much of the younger population of this campus. So, adults must now resort to the word alcohol abuse to emphasize the damage that drinking too much alcohol can cause to the drinker and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, it is a phrase used all too often to make drinking a large amount of alcohol seem more like a disease and less like a decision. In fact, it suggests that an alcohol abuser is someone with a self-evident problem who only needs to have a discussion with a kind, caring University Health Services employee to change his or her ways.
The connection between public drunkenness and personal responsibility is becoming more confused as public officials attempt to sift through ideas that could end UW-Madison's long-standing tradition of drunkenness. The ideas being offered by the Alcohol License and Review Committee's subcommittee on downtown drinking problems are viewing alcohol abuse as everyone else's problem but the person who actually decides to drink.
The committee is considering eliminating drink specials, creating a special entertainment zone that would centralize the downtown bar scene, forcing entertainment promoters to receive a license from the city of Madison and taking photographs of people who will be sent to detox so that \it might dawn on someone what kind of threat they posed to themselves and others"" while drunk, in the words of Ald. Kent Palmer, District 15.
It seems as if the subcommittee has found every possible way to blame someone other than the drunken student for his or her behavior. If the problem doesn't lie with 18-year-old Joe Schmo from Waterloo who is enjoying his newfound freedom from his parents by taking his brother's doctored ID to a local bar to get roaring drunk, then it must be the fault of local tavern owners attempting to make their businesses succeed by offering low prices.
Eliminating drink specials might force more underage college students to look elsewhere for alcohol, but it will also punish local businesses, which try (perhaps not always that hard) to only serve legal drinkers. The ALRC report suggests it is willing to go easy on the irresponsible problem drinker in favor of punishing the supplier, even if the approach is bound to fail. Blame the system, just not the individual alcohol abuser.
When it comes to addressing the behavior of that individual, the idea is to prove to the heavy drinker that he or she has placed himself in grave danger, as well as his or her friends and acquaintances. So the ALRC subcommittee suggests that the police take a photograph while the drinker is incapacitated. Perhaps the shame upon waking up and seeing these pictures will prevent the individual from drinking as much the next time he or she goes out to party.
At the same time, the report suggests that money for the enforcement of underage drinking laws be shifted to health and education initiatives. Although all new health and education programs would be beneficial, enforcement is also a key factor in coercing a student to drink responsibly. The loss of money will mean a lot more to a student than a picture. I probably know a few people who might actually be proud of a detox picture.
Even the minor increase in ""house party monitoring,"" which the subcommittee admits might be necessary if more drinking moves off campus, is hardly the ""Operation Sting"" of a few years back. The report suggests more money to help officers who might have to deal with disturbance calls related to large house parties. It does not mention, in any terms, the introduction of undercover officers or the launching of a large-scale attack against house parties.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, is already attempting to defend the so-called ""rights"" of students to give house parties, even though many of those house parties result in someone being hurt, abused or sexually assaulted. Recent statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism show that injuries and death from alcohol are occurring every day on campuses across the country. According to the study, 1,400 students are killed each year from alcohol-related accidents, along with 500,000 injuries and an astounding 70,000 cases of sexual assault.
It is time students on this campus were treated like adults and forced to take responsibility for their own actions, instead of foisting the responsibility on local bar owners or entertainment promoters. The ALRC should not be afraid to allocate more money to enforce drinking laws or monitor house parties as long as it avoids using scare tactics like undercover cops. A picture won't cut it; enforcing drinking laws is still the best deterrent.
