LSUPD predicts alcohol distribution to cause more public safety incidents

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette recently added more hops to its football games.

Louisiana-Lafayette announced it will allow beer to be sold as a concession option at

Cajun Field on Friday, Aug. 21 while LSU students are still prohibited from quenching

their thirst for victory with an ice-cold beer or mixed drink in Tiger Stadium.

"We cannot sell [alcohol] in the stadium except for the privately controlled suites and club seats," said University spokesman Herb Vincent. "It is written into the Game Management Policy approved by the [Southeastern Conference]."

The Game Management Policy states, "No alcoholic beverages shall be sold ... for public or private consumption anywhere in the facility. Furthermore, the ... consumption of alcoholic beverages in the public areas of the facility shall be prohibited ... These issues shall not apply for private, leased areas in the facility or other areas designated by the SEC."

"[The Game Management Policy] prohibits the sale of alcohol in the public areas of a SEC facility in regular season game and at SEC championships," said Chuck Dunlap, SEC associate director of media relations. "It doesn't apply to neutral site games, away games or bowl games."

Dunlap said he does not foresee any changes to this policy in the future.

OTHER UNIVERSITIES' POLICIES

Tulane University and Louisiana-Lafayette are not in the SEC, so the alcohol policy does not apply to them.

"Athletics now has a contract with a professional concessionaire firm that has the experience, personnel and training to ensure that all state laws and safety issues concerning the sale of alcohol will be followed," according to a Louisiana-Lafayette news release.

Scott Farmer, Louisiana-Lafayette senior associate director of athletics, said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille he does not know how much revenue will be generated from beer sales at football games, but that Louisiana-Lafayette agreement with food services provider Sodexo provides the University with a 45 percent commission after taxes. Louisiana-Lafayette does not share in the profit of alcohol sales at the Cajundome.

"For many years, fans sitting in the luxury boxes at Cajun Field have had access to adult beverages," Farmer said in the e-mail. "It has been a long desire to avail all our loyal fans to the same concessions menu."

Roger Dunaway, Tulane assistant athletic director for communication, said Tulane sells beer at their football games, men's and women's basketball games and volleyball games.

He said Tulane makes some profit from alcohol sales at the on-campus sporting events, but declined to disclose the amount of money the University makes from alcohol sales to The Daily Reveille.

Sophie Palley, Tulane political science and Spanish senior, said not having alcohol available as a concession at the different Tulane sporting events might reduce attendance.

"It definitely brings a different dynamic to the game," Palley said. "It makes it feel a lot more ... like a real college game. In high school there's no alcohol, and now we're the next level up. It adds to the energy."

Palley said she has never felt unsafe at a Tulane sporting event where alcohol is distributed.

David Hawkins, associate director of athletics for finance at Southern University, said in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille that in a perfect world, beer would be sold at Southern's football games, but currently no alcohol is allowed to be sold or consumed at the school's sporting events.

Dustin Percle, LSU anthropology senior, said he would enjoy the football games more if he could continue to drink after tailgating.

"It's a good way for the school to generate income," Percle said. "[Students] should be able to [drink] because they do anyway."

THE SAFETY ARGUMENT

Stuart Watkins, LSU Student Government president, said he doesn't think drinking could be controlled in Tiger Stadium.

"[Drinking is] something that definitely can be controlled at the environment at [Louisiana-Lafayette]," Watkins said. "As a student, I would like to see alcohol in the stadium. But I do think the kind of environment is already very intense in Tiger Stadium, and it could possibly intensify [with alcohol distribution and consumption], and it would become a safety issue at that point."

Dunaway said the vendors who sell alcohol at Tulane sporting events card every customer.

He said security police the games, enforcing the law and making sure there are no problems.

Maj. Lawrence Rabalais, LSU Police Department spokesman, said the more people drink and have access to alcohol, the more public safety incidents, such as fights, disturbances or medical problems, occur. In fall 2008, 784 alcohol-related incidents were reported; these incidents include minors in possession of alcohol (MIPs), intoxicated people ejected from the stadium and students caught sneaking alcohol into the stadium.

"There's definitely an adverse effect from consuming and selling alcohol," Rabalais said. "We're opposed to that. The only way [alcohol would be allowed in Tiger Stadium] is if more schools of our size would do it. This is fairly new to collegiate atmosphere. We can put up a good argument [against alcohol] as it relates to public safety."

LSUPD Capt. Russell Rogé  said implementing the zero tolerance for MIPs at the student entrance to the stadium was the last big change made because of alcohol-related problems.

LSUPD Det. David Heroman said students do anything imaginable to try and sneak alcohol into the stadium from plastic flasks and prepackaged "one shots" to bottles stuffed and taped anywhere on a person clothing can hide.