Kathlyn Hotynski

The buzz in the college binge-drinking discussion is all about “changing the culture.” It’s even the tagline of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s college Web site.

The problem is that no one knows what to do about the drinking culture. Prohibition doesn’t work. And students don’t take kindly to grown-ups (or even well-meaning students) spitting grim statistics at them after they’ve just spent 13 years in school putting up with scare tactics and misleading alcohol and drug “facts.”

But Associate Dean of Student Development Jodi Thesing-Ritter said there’s plenty of impetus to change the drinking culture – and it’s coming from students.

“We hear more and more from freshmen and sophomores who choose not to drink or to drink responsibly,” she said, adding that she has heard from students who have shied away from student organizations because their social events centered around drinking.

In response to student complaints, she said, changes and clarifications to Eau Claire’s alcohol policy have been in the works for quite some time. The main focus seems to be on better enforcement of existing policies, such as the rule that bans campus organizations from advertising activities that take place in bars, though there is talk of banning official pub crawls for organizations with underage members.

Madison officials recently drew fire from students for their efforts to tighten rules on drinking by student organizations. According to a Feb. 22 article in The Spectator, these measures, which are still being revised, include requiring that food and non-alcoholic drinks be sold along with alcohol at student functions and banning booze when all students are not 21 or older.

Making sure everyone’s clear on the rules and that they’re enforced is a no-brainer as far as liability is concerned. But barring underagers from any and all alcohol-related functions is no way to fix the drinking culture.

First of all, you can’t fix something if you don’t understand what causes it. College is many students’ first contact with any kind of drinking culture, and they find themselves confronted with two main messages: first, that there are lots of fun ways to meet people and enjoy college without drinking, and second, that binge drinking happens in college on an epidemic scale. It’s easy to believe that everyone fits into one category or the other.

But what about the students who drink in moderation? You rarely hear about them. Moderate-drinking-tip posters aside, there doesn’t seem to be enough emphasis on the fact that yes, there are college students who can actually drink with some modicum of control.

In a Feb. 12 article in The Spectator, Center For Alcohol Studies and Education Director Peggy O’Halloran pointed out this fact as a weakness of the results of the CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey. According to the survey, 58 percent of students reported binge drinking in the past two weeks. Binge drinking is defined as four drinks in one sitting for females or five for males. But the survey doesn’t specify what period of time constitutes a “sitting.”

The survey also says that nationally, the average female college student consumes four drinks a week, with the average male consuming nine. Even taking into account that it’s easy to overestimate what constitutes a “drink” and that Wisconsin is above the national average, it’s hardly a picture of half the student body getting smashed three nights a week.

Another way to change the drinking culture is to let students drink in a civilized setting. Offering alcohol in settings such as The Cabin or the Viennese Ball gives them a place to drink where, although there’s alcohol present, they are expected to drink responsibly.

Limiting university-sanctioned venues only makes drinking more forbidden, relegating drinkers to bars and house parties where there’s no such expectation – and it sends the message that the university doesn’t think students can be trusted to drink with decency.

Also, Eau Claire needs a club that holds 18-and-older nights. Truly, it is a little torturous to be a 20-year-old who can’t go into the room where everyone’s drinking. But it gives underage students (especially those with of-age friends) somewhere fun to hang out besides house parties and to soak up the “18 to party, 21 to drink” mentality.

The bottom line is that shutting out the drinking culture is no way to change it. Clarifying the rules is a good idea, but treating students like they’re all binge drinkers is only going to make them act that way.

Hotynski is a senior print journalism major and online editor of The Spectator.