UW-Whitewater supports cooperative effort to curb underage drinking
Released: September 13, 2002
Student affairs officials with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater support the efforts of city police to combat underage drinking parties. The university has several of its own programs designed to prevent problems with alcohol and substance abuse.
On Thursday, September 12 at about 10:30 p.m., the Whitewater Police Department arrested nearly 200 people for underage alcohol consumption at a duplex on West Starin Road. The residence is directly across from a campus residence hall. Police reported nearly 300 people were attending the party in the home’s basement.
“These arrests will hopefully set a tone early this year that underage drinking is a serious issue to both the university and community,” said Barbara Jones, assistant chancellor for student affairs. “We hope it will be a deterrent for the rest of the year.”
Alcohol abuse is one of the top health concerns on the nation’s college campuses, Jones said, noting that UW-Whitewater has a number of programs designed to promote healthy decisions about alcohol. They include:
* A Residence Life a program called Choices, which provides information on alcohol abuse and is mandated for any student who receives an alcohol-related citation on campus.
* Detailed alcohol assessment that is required for students who have more than one alcohol-related violation, where there may be indication of a more serious problem.
* Classroom discussions in the required freshman orientation course about the health effects of alcohol and other drugs.
* A “social marketing” campaign highlighting the real statistics about campus drinking, including the fact that far fewer students engage in binge drinking than people commonly believe.
- Brian Mattmiller,npa@uww.edu
