Officials expecting more citations at Kinnick

IOWA CITY - With the University of Iowa now in the second year of its “Think When You Drink” campaign before and after home football games, are the fans at Kinnick Stadium getting the message?

“I think the school tries to send out a message,” said Ryan Cameron, 20, a UI sophomore from Wilton. “But it's where the cops are and where they aren't. It doesn't take too long to figure it out.”

Ethan Mann, a 21-year-old junior and Cameron's roommate, said younger fans understand what is legal and what isn't - but they're also taking note of where they can partake.

“Kids are going to drink wherever they want,” Mann said. “I think they're going to be smarter about it because the cops are everywhere.”

Law enforcement cited, on average, about 100 people in and around Kinnick Stadium at each of last season's seven home football games. Open container violations made up the majority of the tailgating and stadium citations, followed by public intoxication, underage consumption and public urination. The 2010 home opener alone resulted in 160 citations.

Yet the number was down sharply for this season's opener Sept. 3 against Tennessee Tech. The UI Public Safety department issued just 51 citations, 39 of them for open containers.

“The first game is hard to judge,” said UI Public Safety Director Chuck Green. He pointed to the weather that Saturday, which led to long delays after lightning was spotted in the area.

“Half the crowd probably left after the first half because they had already been soaked to the bone, so we saw fewer numbers,” he said, adding that only a few thousand fans were at the stadium by game's end.

However, Green said, in the second year of tighter enforcement of alcohol consumption at Kinnick, more and more people are “familiar and aware” of the rules. Those regulations include drinking only in designated areas, such as within the lots surrounding the stadium and specific parking garages.

Yet even with more awareness among the 70,000-plus fans who attend Hawkeye home football games, Green said, he expects more incidents for Saturday's 11 a.m. kickoff against Pittsburgh.

“We do expect more activity if it's going to be a ‘dry' game, so ... tailgating - and even after, with postgame parties - will be about the same (as last year),” he said.

A mile from Kinnick Stadium, Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said he doesn't anticipate any space concerns for those brought to his jail during the game.

“We are trying to create a little extra room by shipping some additional prisoners over and above those we already ship just to have some additional capacity,” he wrote in an email.