There is one word that ignites a fire in the hearts of students and administration alike, causing controversy and conflict.
Tailgating.
People have talked and thought, argued and debated, and now, they’re doing something about it.
According to Adam Compton, Student Government treasurer and a junior in construction engineering and management, Student Government decided Friday to hold a rally Tuesday afternoon. The rally, beginning at 4 p.m., will address students’ tailgating concerns. The group will meet at the Bell Tower, then make its way toward Holladay Hall.
“Something needs to be done to get longer tailgating hours,” Compton said. “Hopefully we can get a whole lot of students out there.”
Zach Adams, Student Senate president and senior in industrial engineering, said Student Government was doing everything it could to get the word out.
“We’re speaking to dozens of Greek organizations tonight at their chapter meetings — tonight and tomorrow,” he said. “We’ve started an event on Facebook with over 200 confirmed guests, we’ll be putting up sandwich boards, handing out hand bills and starting a petition.”
He said Student Government confirmed the petition Sunday.
However, according to Adams, the Chancellor won’t be in his office Tuesday.
“We cannot rally when it’s convenient for administration. We must act now,” Adams said. “With associate vice chancellors, vice chancellor, Chancellor Oblinger’s staff … Chancellor Oblinger will hear the student voice if we yell loud enough, no matter where he is.”
Devin O’Rourke, a sophomore in political science, said he thinks the rally is a good start, but more needs to be done, and not necessarily by Student Government. He said he feels like Student Government has let students down enough.
“The entire student body should be angry about what’s happening,” he said. “This is tailgating. This is our tradition. This is where we have our fun and now they’re trying to restrict that.”
He said he believes tailgating is a good issue to rally around because it “hits [students] where it hurts.” However, he said he thinks there are many other issues to deal with in addition to tailgating, such as ticketing, the lack of seating increases during the past 10 years and the design school bash. He said he proposes a different form of protest.
O’Rourke started a Facebook group called “The Pac Protest 2006,” advocating the boycott of the first quarter of the Florida State football game Thursday night.
He said having an empty student section for the entire first quarter of the nationally televised game would say something to administrators that a protest could not.
“Administrators seem to think that we are going to lie down and take whatever they throw at us,” he said. “General admission is pretty archaic. People have died over general seating at events.”
Jeff Rice, a junior in statistics and political science, said he is a member of O’Rourke’s Facebook group, and he is “all for” protesting adminstration. However, he said he thinks boycotting the entire first quarter of the game is taking it too far.
“There are already people taking knocks at it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the right way of going about it.”
He said he thinks ticketing should be the first problem dealt with, and that other issues, such as tailgating, would work themselves out in the aftermath.
“Ticketing first and foremost needs to be addressed,” he said. ” That affects all students and not just the ones that are tailgating.”
According to Adams, the student voice will be key in provoking a change from administration. He said the student body has more impact than anything a student leader could say.
“[Student Government] can always tell the Chancellor how students feel,” he said. “But it makes a world of difference for students to take the time out of their busy schedule to stand up for what they want from administration.”