NEW YEAR, SAME PROBLEM

Alcohol-abuse Fight Will Be More Visible

As UW-Madison freshman Tiffany Spears moved in Thursday, trying to get
all her stuff to fit into her room in Elizabeth Waters Hall was the
top concern. What some call UW-Madison's top public health issue
alcohol abuse and the university's renewed ranking as a top party
school in the country just wasn't that important at the moment for
Spears.

''I don't care. I'm not into all that party stuff,'' said the
Milwaukee resident. ''You don't need alcohol to have fun.''

But as thousands of returning students jammed city and campus streets
Thursday and today, the official move-in days for on-campus housing, a
small group of staff members and students are working to change
UW-Madison's hard-core drinking image.

While the anti-binge drinking effort called the RWJ Project has been
on campus for two years, this upcoming school year promises to be its
most important one yet. The project is undertaking different
initiatives that will thrust it into student life in a highly visible
campaign.

More than 35,000 graduate and undergraduate students, including 5,500
freshman, are expected to return to campus this fall as classes start
Wednesday.

The higher profile for the anti-alcohol abuse campaign won't be the
only difference this school year for students. The campus is
undergoing a construction boom, highlighted by the recent completion
of the biochemistry building, and the calendar is quickly being filled
with events marking the university's sesquicentennial.

But the RWJ Project is getting special notice, especially after
UW-Madison's No. 2 party school ranking this week by the Princeton
Review.

''We hardly ever get a police report of serious trouble where alcohol
is not a factor. It is the No. 1 college health problem,'' said Dean
of Students Mary Rouse. ''It's a very ambitious program. It's about
changing the entire culture, and that's a very big
assignment.''

The RWJ Project was made possible by a six-year, $707,000 grant from
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Project coordinator Rob Adsit said the first two years of the project
were spent planning and making initial contacts in the community on
combating problem drinking. But efforts this year will be more public
and focus on giving students new choices. They include:

Giving freshmen detailed information on specific student organizations
based on surveys students filled out this summer at orientation. The
goal: zero in on the groups that might interest students out of the
645 student groups that are out there.

Volleyball and basketball leagues that start at 10 p.m. Thursday, a
popular bar time.

New student-only personal ad section and advice column in the Badger
Herald aimed at providing a way to meet people outside the bars.

Offering mini-grants to student organizations to encourage them to
shift activities to weekend nights when bar alternatives are in
shorter supply. Adsit said the RWJ Project is trying to employ
marketing techniques to sell their message.

''Binge drinking is a product and students are choosing that product.
What we are trying to do is offer another alternative,'' he said.
''There are more students than you would expect that are interested in
these things.''

But the project's task is daunting.

In 1996, UW-Madison had 412 alcohol-related arrests, the third highest
in the nation. One Harvard University survey showed that two-thirds of
the students had an episode of binge drinking in the previous two
weeks a rate that was more than 20 percent higher than the average of
the 146 schools surveyed. (Binge drinking in the survey was defined as
five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more for women.)

''It's such a part of student culture it will take a long time to
change,'' said project worker Meg Saur, who graduated from UW-Madison
this year. ''But we hope to chip away at it a little at a time.''

Project workers said they don't see themselves as neo-prohibitionists.

''This might not stop people from drinking, but it will give them
other options,'' said Bettie Lewis, who also graduated this year.
''Maybe they can see they can have a good time without drinking.''

Many students unpacking Thursday wished the project well. But there
was also a note of skepticism.

''It's a good idea,'' said sophomore Sarah MacLeish of Portage. ''But
it might take a while. I think it's ingrained in a lot of people.''

While no student defends the messier byproducts of hard drinking, many
take pride in how UW-Madison is able to mix high academic achievement
and an active social life.

''What makes this university special is that students know how to have
a good time and how to balance that with academics,'' said junior
Chris Stillwell of Janesville.

Said Lewis Orchard of Albuquerque, N.M.: ''This is a campus that
requires you to study extremely hard and when you do that there are
times when you have to blow off steam.''

As he helped unload his daughter Lisa's stuff, Larry Misner of
Marshfield said he was aware of UW-Madison's reputation.

''It concerns me that a majority of students come here for that,'' he
said. ''But I trust my daughter She has a good head on her
shoulders.''

Checked-by: Patrick Henry