According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, there were 3,331 reported alcohol-attributable deaths statewide in 2022. This is over double that of the opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin that year, which amounted to about 1,459.

Additionally, the 2024 report from VinePair, a digital media company that provides information about alcohol consumption, reported that seven out of the top 10 drunkest cities nationwide are in Wisconsin. Eau Claire took the no. 2 spot.

With this in mind, UW-Eau Claire has specific procedures in place in dealing with both the legal and health-based affects drinking can have on college students.

Renee Stoik, a police sergeant with the UW-Eau Claire Police Department, came to the department in February. Prior to this, she worked for the Eau Claire Police Department (ECPD).

Stoiks focus at the ECPD was alcohol violations, compliance checks, fake IDs, underage persons entering taverns and operating while intoxicated, or OWI, enforcement. She spent the majority of her career working in the west district which mainly focused on Water Street, a common spot for college drinking.

Stoik said the department does a lot of proactive work to address and educate students about their violations. Additionally, Stoik said a large number of the violations they write underage citations for are due to the attention the scene causes.

Stoik said she encourages students to be aware of the consequences of underage or excessive drinking.

“A lot of the violations we cite for because somebody has done something that draws attention,” Stoik said. “Whether it be a police-related call or something we spot on our own or something like that.”

UW-Eau Claire offers a number of services through the Office of Health Promotion, which operates as the outreach and educational branch of Student Health Services (SHS).

Christy Prust, a health educator, does work related to sexual health, alcohol and other drug misuse and mental health. According to Prust, the Office of Health Promotion offers three main alcohol-related programs.

Promoting Healthy Decisions (PhD) is a $50 course that is one hour and sanctioned to students who have been caught in the vicinity of alcohol but not necessarily drinking. This is taught by the Student Wellness and Advocacy Team (SWAT).

“That class is very much just more related to life in general,” Prust said. “Making goals, talking about the Wellness Wheel, changes in behavior and that sort of thing.”

The second course, Choices, is $80 and is also taught by SWAT. It is 2 hours and sanctioned to students who have been caught drinking on campus.

“That really dives more into a student’s relationship with alcohol,” Prust said. “Talking specifically about educating about alcohol, poisoning prevention, educating about what a standard drink is, educating about tips for if a person is going to participate in drinking.”

The third and final course is BASICS, or Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students, which is taught by Prust. It’s $100 and consists of two 1.5 hour courses sanctioned to students who have been caught drinking twice or committed a more serious first violation. 

“We talk about things like the pros and cons of drinking,” Prust said. “Oftentimes the cons section will be two or three times [larger than] the positive.”

In between sessions, students have to take the eCHECKUP TO GO. It is available online so that any student can take it. 

“That really looks into things like their tolerance, how much money they’re spending on alcohol, what that looks like in terms of caloric intake, what their risk of dependency on a number of variables looks like, what goals they have and how drinking affects these goals,” Prust said.

Students can self-refer to any of the three offered courses and take them at no cost. 

Prust said that, with drinking culture being a part of college, the resources are there to help.

“I think it’s woven into people’s expectation of what the college experience is going to be,” Prust said. “Providing resources that choose to drink is just a way for harm reduction, so negative consequences are less likely to happen.”

Doug Matthews, a psychology professor, primarily teaches courses either required for neuroscience students or that satisfy the biology domain class for psychology students. Not being a Wisconsin native, Matthews was surprised about the state’s drinking culture.

“When I began looking into it, it was just the awareness of it. It was a really severe issue in the state of Wisconsin,” Matthews said. “I got interested in why it’s so much more severe in Wisconsin.”

Alcohol produces specific effects on the brain’s ability to form declarative memories. 

“It seems to produce a functional brain lesion so that people don’t form declarative memories while they’re intoxicated,” Matthews said. “If you drink at high levels, the next day you may not remember what you did.”

Alcohol also significantly impacts the aging of the brain. Matthews said he looks at a number of impacts in his lab. One such case is the rate of deaths by falling. Wisconsin leads this sector for individuals over age 65. Additionally, Matthews spoke of the impact alcohol use has on neurocognitive disorders like dementia.

“The number one modifiable risk favor for the development of dementia is if you have an alcohol use disorder,” Matthews said. 

With all of this in mind, Matthews said he recognizes the mindset college students have surrounding drinking, and encourages them to broaden their understanding.

”Adolescents have this kind of bulletproof mentality like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have to worry about that,’” Matthews said. “But each one of those statistics is someone’s life that has fundamentally changed. And I think we can do a better job at conveying that.”

Braun can be reached at [email protected].