River drownings can be prevented

With the recent death of another college male in La Crosse resulting from drowning in the Mississippi River, it really made me wonder what more the city of La Crosse could be doing to try and prevent this from happening yet again.

The La Crosse police recently released a report stating that more than 20 people have fallen or jumped into the river and survived since 1997. Alcohol was involved with 15 of the 22 close to drownings. While I do think it is good that La Crosse has started programs like Operation River Watch to prevent people from going into the river, particularly during the early morning after bars close. I believe alcohol has contributed to the river deaths and near-drownings except for a few that have suicide attempts where no alcohol use was linked.

It is clear that alcohol has had devastating consequences for the victims who have drowned in La Crosse. Alcohol has been a factor in a majority of the people found in or near the water who have been rescued before anything tragic happened. While it is a relief that so many people have been saved from possibly drowning in the river, nine deaths since 1997 is still too many.

I understand that La Crosse is a "college-town" and is accepting to an atmosphere of typical college behavior, which obviously includes parties and lots of drinking. However, because there have been an astounding number of young college males being found in the river after a night of drinking, maybe our accepting atmosphere needs to change a bit.

Many of the victims were with friends or family the night they died. People need to watch out for their friends and the company they are with, especially if they are out drinking. Don't ever leave someone who is so intoxicated that they don't recognize where they are or can't find his or her way home. Bar owners also need to become more responsible of their customers. Most of the time, it is easy to tell if someone has had too much to drink. If someone appears to already be too intoxicated to clearly order a drink, don't serve them.

There are many solutions to stop the deaths of promising young males. Think about what steps you should take and what steps the city and bars need to take to make sure this does not continue to happen.