In preparation for the University’s first home football game of the season, LSU Student Government’s new pilot program will provide Hydration Stations on campus for home game tailgating.
Weather forecasts are already showing the high temperature for Saturday to be in the mid-80s, and those in the University community should anticipate to deal with the heat all day. SG’s new pilot program hopes to combat a common issue related to high heat: dehydration.
“Basically, it’s an overall initiative by Student Government and the University to make game days safer for students,” said SG vice president Leah Sanders.
The program, created by Sanders and SG Faculty and Staff Liasion Joey Impastato, is a partnership between SG, Student Health Center, LSU Auxiliary Services, LSU Department of Residential Life and LSU UREC. It will provide three 125-gallon water tanks stationed around the Parade Ground. While there will be some cups provided, Sanders said SG encourages users to bring their own water bottles or cups.
Sanders said each tank will feature six spigots to dispense the almost 3,000 servings of water contained within each tank, as well as a flag on top for easy locating on the Parade Ground.
“Overall, [we looked] at how hot it is on game day,” Sanders said. “We want people to be out there, all day, having a good time, but we want them to be safe, and we just realized that there is really nowhere to get water on game day.”
So far, Sanders said funding has been acquired to provide the Hydration Stations for four of the six home games this season, and SG is optimistic about funding for the last two games after determining how well the Stations are received.
In addition to the Hydration Stations, the Medical Station, which was formerly housed near the stadium, will be moved to the Parade Ground to be more central to tailgating activities. It will also feature a flag for easy locating.
Sanders said the University previously had Emergency Medical Technicians roaming around campus.
“We talked to [the EMTs] and they’re going to set up a red tent on the Parade Ground so it’s more central to where everyone is located,” Sanders said. “If [anybody] has trouble, they can see the flag and know where to go.”
SG has also worked with the University’s Office of the President to remove mandatory pat-downs from the student section entrance of Tiger Stadium.
Mandatory pat-downs were only required at the student section entrance and at no other gate around the stadium, causing extreme wait times for students to get to their seats, said SG President Jason Badeaux.
“Obviously, there are still alcohol rules in place, and we still encourage students to follow those rules,” Badeaux said. “We don’t want the pat-downs to have to come back … but we did want to do this for the students to try and speed up the process and make it easier and more enjoyable for students to get into the stadium.”