On the eve of the Mifflin Street Block Party, Pulitzer Prize winner Eric Newhouse spoke about alcoholism and its effects, a topic that drove him to write his award-winning series of articles.
In an environment that Newhouse said plays a huge role in alcoholism, he warned college students to watch the amount of alcohol they drink.
In the same vein, many experts on the treatment of alcoholism who were present at the event expressed worry about the practice of celebratory drinking that may be involved in the Mifflin Street event.
\Celebration means you have a drink or two; it doesn't mean you get bombed,"" said Dr. Henry Steinberger, founder of SMART Recovery in Madison. ""It's about being responsible.""
The problem is especially pertinent in Wisconsin.
""In Wisconsin, inappropriate use and abuse of alcohol and drugs is a significant health risk and economic problem,"" said Rev. Jeff Billerbeck, director of spiritual care at Meriter Hospital.
Newhouse noticed this same impact in Montana, where he wrote for The Great Falls Tribune and embarked on a 12-part series telling the stories of those whose lives were touched by the effects of alcohol.
""We knew we had to tell stories and use names and use photos because if we did not ... nobody would believe the things we were going to tell them,"" Newhouse said. ""That was my challenge-to find people who would come out and be willing to risk what they perceived as being the stigma of alcoholism.""
Newhouse looked then at what he termed the ""human costs"" of alcoholism from members of the community who came forward to tell stories of the ways in which their own personal lives were affected.
In these accounts, he said he found the hidden cost of alcoholism, including medical and law enforcement expenses, along with the multitudes of other ways the disease imposes a price on society.
""It came out to be about $135 million each year and, by comparison, the state of Montana spends $120 million per year on its university system,"" Newhouse said. ""That, to me, was the most frightening and sobering statistic.""
After spending a year of his life involved with people whose lives are consumed by alcoholism, Newhouse said he is now convinced it is a mental illness for which a cure should be sought.
He told those in attendance that hope for finding a cure would depend on viewing the disease as a mental illness rather than a stigma.
