MSU TESTS BOOZE-FREE TAILGATE PARTIES

EAST LANSING, Mich., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Michigan State University
launched its football season today with a new tradition --
alcohol-free tailgate parties.

The Big Ten school bannned liquor from the 11 acres of Munn Field, a
popular site for pre-game parties, because of rowdy behavior that
police say regularly included underage and excessive drinking, fights,
public urination and littering.

Last spring word of the crackdown sparked a student riot that spilled
into the streets of East Lansing.

A special campus-community panel has spent the summer trying to hammer
out plans to prevent future riots. But the liquor ban remains in
effect, and some students are still upset about what they say is a
lack of input in university decisions.

MSU police Chief Bruce Benson told the Lansing State Journal he blamed
much of the trouble on ``outsiders'' and non-football fans who began
visiting Munn just for the parties.

As a result, every game would require at least one ambulance call for
a severely intoxicated reveler.

He felt the school had to act because, in his words, ``Someone
was going to get killed.''

Checked-by: Patrick Henry