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Effects Of Tailgating In Ncaa Division I Football Campuses

"Effects of Tailgating in NCAA Division I Football Campuses"

Introduction
Background of the Problem
"Tailgating," as deduced from the readings and experiences, is a popular practice especially among collegiate football fanatics and is usually done prior to a football game. It is a way of enjoying an upcoming football game and interacting with people through eating and drinking spree. In relation to this, Al Bohl, the Athletics Director of the University of Kansas, states, in the internet article of Terry Rombeck (2001), that, "It's recognized across the nation tailgating is a popular tradition."
Given such, tailgating offers a festive atmosphere, in which football fans and non-football fans alike enjoy food and drinks served, and provides avenues for socializing and mingling with different types of individuals. In relation to such, on socializing dimension of tailgating, Gibson, Holdnak & Willming (2002) comment, "Some fans reported that the football season was their only opportunity in throughout to see some of their friends and family."
Such enjoyment and socialization factors brought about by tailgating usually result to involvement of the minors in drinking sessions, which could, in the long-run, lead to alcohol obsession, economic opportunism, and bonding time for families and friends. The first is a negative effect for it is a problem and poses a threat especially to safety and security, the second has good and bad sides, and the third is a positive effect. On the aforementioned negative effect, Max Sutherland, in the internet article of Rombeck (2001), observes "tailgating would lead to underage drinking," and James A. Donahue, the Dean of Students of Georgetown University, in the article off Johnson (1999), stresses, "the purpose of the tailgating tradition is to allow alumni to come back to the university, not to provide a forum for underage drinking." On the economic implication, the good side is that tailgating is a strategy to bring back...