Letter to the Editor: MU needs to clean up after Homecoming
Published Oct. 21, 2011
The photographs of the 2011 Homecoming on the Tribune website tell only one side — the good — of this past weekend’s story. Long-standing Mizzou tailgaters were subjected to mobs of drunken youths who rampaged through Lot X. In their wake they left broken glass beer bottles, cans, and litter such that driving in these areas was impossible lest one surely get a flat tire. (I can provide the photographic proof.) My tailgate party members were concerned for their safety and the safety of their property. While police were available and appreciated, they did what they could. But their numbers are insufficient. The University needs to recognize this growing problem before it escalates even further. The official “briefcase” of tailgating appears to be a blue case of (insert brand name here) beer. Hundreds of youths walk the campus carrying their briefcases with, apparently, total disregard for the law and safety of others. The University must ensure this practice come to an immediate and permanent halt. Perhaps it ought to take a close look at how other universities control (and solved) this problem. I suggest it start with Penn State.
This is an epidemic University leaders can no longer ignore.
— Joseph M. Gravish
11:42 p.m., Oct. 22, 2011
Jordan Paul said:
Excerpt from MSA President's End of Year Report, February 2010: "Over the last few weeks, we have had a number of topics surface in our discussion about student tailgating. However, in the end, the central issue is student safety. We believe that the administration’s approach to student tailgating is incorrect because it does not directly address the issues. Instead of identifying the problems with Reactor Field and attempting to address them in a proactive manner, the administration decided to simply eliminate the space, and, theoretically by extension, the problems associated with that space. Although not completely analogous, the handling of Reactor Field is eerily similar to the troubled area formerly known as “Frat Pit.” When this area became problematic, the University eliminated the space. Unsurprisingly, the problems that used to occur at “Frat Pit” resurfaced in Reactor Field, and, less than two years after closing “Frat Pit,” the administration decided to close Reactor Field. At this point, we don’t know where these problems will reemerge, or in what form. However, early observations indicate that they are already beginning to reappear in CG 17 and AV 14."