Student senators and members of the Greek community hosted a tailgate in the Brickyard Wednesday afternoon in response to possible changes suggested by the Football Task Force for the tailgating policies for the 2006 season.

In addition to the free food and music, participants received flyers and were asked to complete a survey about tailgating to test students’ knowledge of current policies.

According to the handbills — “Despite age it is unlawful for any person to display publicly at an athletic contest fortified wine, spirituous liquor or mixed beverage due to N.C. State students.”

The demonstration took less than three hours, but garnered students in passing between classes.

“The turnout was excellent,” Student Senate President Forrest Hinton said. “We made 1,000 copies of handouts and surveys and by 12:30 we didn’t have any left, so I can’t imagine how many people we served.”

The handouts listed rules about tailgating to inform students of the official statutes.

The survey involved questions about alcohol, passes for re-entry and hours allotted for tailgating. Results from the survey are expected within several days and will be used to present to the task force at the next meeting.

Will Peete, a junior in natural resources and a member of Delta Sigma Phi, said he participated because he disagrees with the task force’s suggestions.

“I certainly think it’s fun; I mean, why take it away?” Peete said. “Kids look forward to this all year long; it would certainly decline school spirit [if some of the policies were changed].”

Among the possible changes are the elimination of kegs, drinking games and passes for re-entry, as well as tailgating tents being restricted to the front and back of a vehicle.

Lindsay Mohr, a senior in psychology, said her opinion of tailgating activities depends on where students are and their age groups.

“If it’s public property and they’re over 21, there shouldn’t be any reason why they couldn’t drink,” she said. “That’s basic rights right there.”

While the tailgate was hosted to raise awareness about tailgating policies and the possible changes to them, for some students it also raised awareness about what tailgating actually is.

“Some students, especially foreign students, would come up and say, ‘What is tailgating?’ and we had to explain to them what it was and it was kind of a cultural awareness for a lot of people,” Hinton said.

Student Government and the Department of Greek Life urged students to take action and speak out.

“I’m sure people can write a letter to the provost and the chancellor to help out and write to senators to talk about how much they care about the issue,” Peete said.

Hinton said he agrees and recommended sending e-mails to the administration or the Student Senate.

“Alumni are complaining about safety and there needs to be the same kind of response from people about preserving tailgating,” Hinton said.

The next football task force meeting is scheduled for Feb. 6 at 8 p.m., and another on Feb. 7 at 1 p.m.