After this past year's Auburn [4] game, I walked back to the car with my dad. I was pretty disappointed with the way the game turned out and kept turning the last few plays over and over in my mind. When we reached North Campus, something brought me to a stop and made me forget the loss.

Yeah, it looked this bad.

I could not believe what I saw - there were layers and layers of trash strewn all over the green areas from right outside of the Main Library to Broad Street. I wish I would have had my camera with me to show you how BAD it looked. My dad asked if I thought someone came through and purposely vandalized the area. I said no. Frankly, if you had told me how bad it was before I saw it, I would have had a completely different picture in my head of maybe a few overflowing trashcans. It reminded me of pictures of the trashed Superdome in New Orleans during the Katrina evacuation. I was embarrassed of how it looked and hated to see the campus I love so much wasted in this way.

Recently Michael Adams and a UGA committee expressed displeasure with fans on gameday, calling their behavior "despicable." Even though I can't stand Michael Adams, I agree that the condition of the campus was left in a despicable condition. However, some of the suggested ideas from this committee aren't all that great in my opinion. They suggest a heavy-handed approach to control fans. I believe a positive approach would be much more effective. Many UGA fans and alumni are already upset about the changes that have been made to tailgating in the past few years, and bringing down the hammer by police and UGA administration will just make the situation worse.

Here are some ideas for cleaning up Gameday.

1. UGA needs to put out more trashcans. Although many people could take their trash home, you'll get a much better response if you provide MORE containers to store trashbags. If one or two people at a tailgate start throwing their trash on the ground, more people are liable to do so, and before you know it, you've got a mess on your hands like North Campus after the Auburn [5] game, especially after people have consumed a few drinks.
   
2. UGA should start an advertising/PR trash campaign. UGA Ad and PR students could create the campaign, giving them real world experience while UGA gets a free ad campaign. Put up signs and billboards going into Athens to ask people not to be a litter bug (with the litter bug being a Yellow Jacket? ;-)). Have people walk around handing out garbage bags asking them to remember to store their trash in bags and not on the ground. Reminders could be flashed up on the stadium screens to go along with the campaign.
   
3. UGA should start a recycling program. In 2003, North Carolina State started a recycling program on gamedays called "Chuck It!" The program consists of recycling bins for glass, plastic and aluminum located at the entrance gates and in the parking areas of the stadium. "Chuck It!" has been a huge success. Why can't UGA do the same?
   
4. Crack down on bars setting up "tailgates" on University property. Supposedly an Atlanta bar set up a "tailgate" on North Campus and charged admission for people to enter their area. As much as I like to have a good time, stuff like this shouldn't be allowed on campus.
   
5. And last but not least, people need to take responsibility for their actions. We like to point the finger at others, but what can you do to help this situation? Bring extra trash bags and hand them out to tailgates around you. If you see someone throwing trash all over the place, say something.

We're proud of UGA's athletic success, and that same feeling should extend to the campus as well. So let's do something about it!