Jordan Ripley ENC 1102H 4/29/14 A Look at Alcohol Use at UCF Tailgating Memory Mall.

On any other day, its the long stretch of grass between the Student Union and the CFE Arena, a slice of peace and tranquility that cuts through the hustle and bustle of this busy campus. But not today. Today, hundreds of tents have popped up, lining both sides of the mall. People mill about everywhere, some old and some young, sitting around in lawn chairs, smiling and laughing. The sweet smell of smoked meat wafts in from a nearby barbecue. Everyones wearing black and gold. Today is a college football game day, and the tailgating has just begun. But beneath all the festivities and pageantry lies an uncomfortable reality: alcohol. While it would be nice to assume that all alcohol at this tailgate is being consumed legally and responsibly, that would unfortunately not be true. Underage drinking is often rampant, and many people are consuming far too much alcohol. And this isnt unique to UCF: virtually every major college struggles with this at their games. In this analysis, I will look at the social norms and expectations that go with alcohol use at college football tailgating, and attempt to explain these behaviors. To start off, I wanted to find out what power structures affect alcohol use at tailgates. At first, I thought that policies, enforced both by UCF and the local government, might have a strong effect on this. However, a study conducted by Laura Oster-Aaland and Clayton Neighbors showed that after a major university reversed a long-standing policy banning alcohol at

tailgating, the amount of alcohol consumed had no real change: people were going to drink, regardless of policies (Oster-Aaland, Neighbors 2007). This meant that something else was affecting the behaviors of tailgaters. Ultimately, after much research, I came to the conclusion that social norms and expectations were the biggest thing contributing to alcohol use. These norms and expectations can reveal themselves in many different ways. One study I read showed that tailgaters whose parents drink before games tend to themselves drink alcohol, regardless of age or gender (Abar, Turrisi, Abar 2011). This makes sense. Children, even in their late teens and early twenties, tend to model their behaviors after their parents behaviors. In this case, these students drink because its the norm. While UCF has only had an on-campus stadium, and thus tailgating traditions, for less than a decade, other schools have long-standing tailgating traditions. Just this September, I went with my family to the University of Florida, my fathers alma-mater, to see a football game. While walking to the stadium, we passed a highly-distinctive blue and orange RV that my dad immediately recognized from his time at the school, nearly thirty years ago! It only makes sense that longstanding tailgating traditions, including alcohol usage, would be passed down from generation to generation. Gender-linked expectations also plays a major role in alcohol use at tailgating events. Women, due to biological factors such as decreased levels of an alcohol-reducing enzyme and lower body water levels, typically absorb 30% more alcohol than men for each drink consumed. Naturally, this means that women should be, on average, drinking less than their male peers. However, this isnt always the case. A 2007 study of tailgating students showed that while nearly 3/5 of all tailgaters who drink are men, the women who do drink tend to experience more negative consequences associated with drinking, such as vomiting or violent behavior (Haun et. al 2007). This would imply that many women are trying to keep up with their male

counterparts alcohol consumption. Of course, this is incredibly dangerous: the aforementioned biological factors, combined with the fact that women tend to weigh less than their male counterparts, means that these women are often consuming far more alcohol than they think. In fact, a 130 pound woman will have twice the BAC of a 185 pound man drinking the same quantity of alcohol. Unfortunately, these expectations for women to keep up with their male friends, whether real or perceived, have a highly detrimental effect.