Editorial:

Changing Reactor Field's hours won't work

Published Oct. 24, 2008

As long as the Tigers are playing football, there will be tailgating. And as long as there is tailgating, there will be a whole lot of drinking on game days. If Athletic Director Mike Alden or MU police Capt. Brian Weimer think postponing the opening of Reactor Field parking lot for tailgating by a few hours will significantly cut down on drunk activity in the area, they should probably rethink the situation.

First of all, if students can't drink at Reactor as early as usual, they'll drink elsewhere and then drive over - at least some under the influence. Or they'll simply tailgate all day in East Campus or on top of parking garages, scattering activity and making it more difficult for police officers to regulate behavior and curb fights and disturbances before they become serious. Making Reactor Field open later just makes things more unsafe - it doesn't solve a problem.

In September 2007, the Office of Student Affairs, Administrative Services, the athletic department and MUPD prohibited tailgating at "Frat Pit" for safety reasons, thinking that would cut down on the excessive complaints of public urination, community disturbance and possession of alcohol by minors.

But that hasn't changed anything - more students just migrated to Reactor and are still drinking, minors are still in possession of alcohol and people are still urinating where they shouldn't. And all these behaviors are happening right next to Providence Road, which is very busy - not a good combination if we're looking out for student safety. Obviously, just moving people from location to location isn't going to solve the underlying problem. People are going to continue getting obnoxiously drunk and doing stupid things no matter where they are.

But the thing is, not all students are getting "obnoxiously drunk." Alden even said that in this case, a lot of students are getting punished for the actions of a few. If that's what's going on, officers should begin to actually enforce laws when they're being broken by that few - whether it's giving tickets to minors in possession or arresting belligerent students starting fights. Showing that they mean business would hopefully deter these students from continued debauchery and prevent other students from similar behaviors.

But the entire situation does draw attention to the issue of unsafe conditions for students at Reactor, and MUPD and the athletic department should look at some possible solutions to ensure student security. One possibility is finding an equally large space for students to tailgate closer to the stadium. Another is providing a shuttle to and from Reactor so that students aren't walking across a busy highway. In any case, the solution isn't postponing the opening of Reactor - that's just avoiding the problem instead of facing it.