As part of its continuing investigation of the epidemic of alcohol-related problems in the campus area, the UW-Madison Policy Alternative Community and Education coalition met Thursday evening at the Memorial Union.
A crowd of nearly 40 people, including students, landlords, community members, local police officers and representatives of the university, attended the event at which speakers discussed issues related to house parties.
Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, spoke on behalf of the Tenant Resource Center. Konkel reviewed the legal action landlords may take against tenants who host parties. In particular, she emphasized the importance of tenants understanding the terms of their leases.
\The biggest thing we need to tell people is to read the lease before you sign it,"" she said.
Konkel further stressed that tenants' rights in hosting parties vary according to the parameters of their leases.
""Whatever the tenant and landlord agree to, that's what the rules are,"" she said.
Tim Wadlington, an employee of Steve Brown Apartments, spoke as a representative of campus
area landlords.
""As landlords, we are responsible for what happens on our properties,"" he said.
According to Wadlington, alcohol consumption is an integral component of the campus lifestyle.
""It is a given that alcohol is a part of the college experience,"" he said.
However, Wadlington noted recent progress in the campus dialogue on alcohol-related issues.
""I've seen vast improvement over the last few years in the attitudes and involvement of students,"" he said.
William Lugo, PACE project evaluator, concluded the program with an analysis of alcohol-related criminal incidents in the campus area. He displayed several diagrams of incident rates according to location.
Lugo said he has discovered three areas of concentrated alcohol problems.
""The highest densities of problems seem to be centered around the 600 block of Langdon, the Gorham-University area and the College Park area,"" he said.
Lugo said he plans to further research the reasons for the heightened incident rates in those areas.
""The kind of question that I'm trying to answer is what makes a location attractive to large party hosts?"" he said.
Mandy Fallbacher, a freshman at UW-Madison, questioned whether house parties should be blamed for campus-area alcohol problems.
""I think a lot of the problem has to do with the bars,"" she said. ""People go to parties before and after but the drinking that goes on at the bars contributes to the problems.\
