It looks like Texas Tech officials are trying to crack down on excessive tailgating. Just last week, the Student Government Association announced its proposal to help curb student alcohol use before football games by controlling tailgating times and the use of kegs. Of course this may be unfortunate for many Tech students, but it certainly doesn't change much.
Universities around the country seem to be taking similar steps to control alcohol related accidents.
Drinking before and after football games is a ritual students have enjoyed for years. Within the past three years, six other universities and two National Football League teams have placed restrictions on tailgating before games.
The most popular changes seem to be the same steps Tech plans to impose: fewer hours and no kegs. Yet, Tech is in a unique position to both limit overall alcohol use while capitalizing on recent changes in Lubbock.
If Tech really wants to stop alcohol use before football games, it could just ban alcohol at tailgates altogether, even though we all know this won't happen, as it shouldn't. Alcohol sales is a very profitable industry and college students are a primary consumer. Tech could, however, limit alcohol from being brought onto campus. This wouldn't deviate from current policy outside of football season; Tech remains a somewhat dry campus (although many on campus residents would beg to differ).
New policy allowing the sale of packaged alcohol in the city of Lubbock permits Tech to hold a liquor license of its own, possibly limiting the distribution of alcohol on campus. Under this plan, Tech would limit all alcohol to be purchased through designated vendors in roped off areas on campus. Students and fans would have to present identification to receive an over-21 wristband to be able to purchase alcohol at such locations.
With its own liquor license, Tech could bring in outside vendors to sell the beer and wine in the "alcohol zones" on campus. By charging a fortune for such spots, Tech could stand to make huge money while generating tax revenue for the City of Lubbock. Tech could support local business and organizations and still bring in advertising dollars. It is certainly a manageable situation for Tech and Lubbock.
Tech could make profits and collect taxes while still encouraging less alcohol consumption on campus.
Similar tailgating restrictions have been placed at the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida. The evidence from both places seems to show that students and fans are willing to shell out for their alcohol. Both schools reported nearly $3 million in additional revenue by forcing people to purchase their pregame liquor.
Even so, banning the use of kegs on campus does little but "encourage" students from refraining from alcohol use. In fact, kegs provide a legitimate source of alcohol, forcing students to use cups instead of cans and bottles, keeping empty beer containers from being tossed around campus. I think Tech students will discover that there is very little correlation between using kegs before games and the overall alcohol consumption on campus.
Yet of course, Tech students will always find their ways to get alcohol. How the university handles its alcohol policies is simply a façade to the irrefutable fact that college students will always be massive consumers of alcohol. Tech should certainly do everything it can to promote alternatives to drinking. However, if students are going to drink anyway, the school should at least make a little money off it.
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