Opinion: UW-Milwaukee’s Alcohol Treatment Program is Worth It

Freshman year of college is a new chapter in the lives of students looking to further their education and make the transition to adulthood. It is a time when young people can finally live their lives outside the homes of parents or guardians and interact with society. College provides the opportunity to find activities and people to engage with for many years to come.

 It is also a time when students are not as protected by the comforts of home and more responsibility is thrust upon them the moment they arrive on campus. One culture of freshman year, which many choose to get involved with, is drinking. This culture, especially in dorm life, opens the door for students who are not wise about their decision making.

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 55% of full-time college students ages 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month, and nearly 37% engaged in binge drinking in the last month. The CDC defines binge drinking as a pattern that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 g/dl or above.

Alcohol is also considered to be a depressant. Mental health is becoming a broader focus in our society, and college students are a known to be affected by it. UWM’s Norris Health Center is a place on campus to access more information to immediate mental assistance. Binge drinking on a Saturday night could have a negative impact on your academic performance on a Sunday night assignment.

At UWM, there are mandatory online courses freshmen must take surrounding drugs, alcohol, sex etc. However, these courses focus more on situational awareness when at a party scene as opposed to consequences when caught for drinking. Being caught drinking on campus will put a hold on your ability to further your education until the BASICS (Brief Alcohol & Other Drug Screening & Intervention Programs) class is completed

With the new necessity of independence that comes with being a college student in the dorms, it is important to know the facts surrounding drinking at a college age, and the consequences if you are caught in a bad situation. I had two under ages my freshmen year, both were choices I made not giving the outcome any prior thought.

The first underage citation I received came in March of my freshman year. I had just begun to embrace the culture of drinking in the dorms more as the year went on to the point where I had become a two night a weekend drinker and partier. One night I decided to bring a backpack full of beer with me so I could drink wherever my group ended up. By the end of the night around 2 a.m. we were walking back to the Sandburg dorms when an officer stopped us on the corner of Kenwood and Maryland and decided it was necessary to search us. With everything happening so fast I did not realize I had a beer can in my hand which caught the officer’s eye. Despite being fully sober and with most of the beer gone, I was still breathalyzed and given an underage.

As a result of being caught with alcohol under the legal age, I was required to meet with Patrick Terry is the Dean of Students office and take the first portion of BASICS. The meeting went almost the opposite of how I expected, thinking I was going to be chewed out instead being met with a person who wanted me to understand and learn ways to not find myself in this situation again. “I want you to think and reflect about how you got to the point you did and how not to get back there,” he said. He provided me with resources going into BASICS and a paper assignment I had to write about the incident.

Before I had the chance to take BASICS 1, almost a month later, I received a second underage. The second was more significant with the potential severity and the impact it had on me. By this time my alcohol tolerance was risen to the point I could partake in ‘binge’ drinking. After consuming multiple shots of Admiral, I spent most of the night coming in and out of sober consciousness, which ended up putting me face-to-face with two UWM officers as I was attempting to pee in a bush. This time I blew a .8 and needed to be escorted back to Sandburg. I don’t recall what street I was on.

I was required to meet with Patrick Terry a second time along with taking the second portion of BASICS on top of the first one. This second one was defeating for me and significantly derailed my drinking habits to this day.

BASICS 1 meant me with about five or six other students who were required to take the class. We took notes as a group about the lure of drugs and alcohol along with potential dangers after the ‘point of no return.’ We were given reding materials and a calendar where we would fill out the drugs and alcohol we consumed for the next month, which was optional.

BASICS 2 was a one-on-one meeting with Susan Cushman, one of the instructors of the program. As someone who didn’t experiment with alcohol throughout high school very often, I benefited from having someone to enlighten me on the effects of alcohol. The main lesson I learned is when you find yourself trying to regain your ‘buzz’ after you feel it fading, it only increases the sloppy comedown which will lead to blackouts if consumption of alcohol continues. This came almost six months after I received the citations, and I walked out feeling much better than I did going in. She answered every question I had about alcohol and a few other drugs which have shaped the way I go about handling those activities today.

I would encourage students to take the BASICS program even with the COVID pandemic forcing it to be online. Students should know they have the option to undergo a program which gives them this type of in-depth information that not even the required courses at the beginning of the year try to illustrate. A quality way of life is key to a successful college career.