No one likes to hear stories about drunken driving, drunken fighting or getting caught drunkenly relieving yourself on a wall outside a bar. We don't like these stories because they always end with some form of the meaningless slogan "Drink Responsibly."
Let's be honest, the majority of us, meaning UF students, faculty and alumni, like to get our drink on when the ol' Gators play. We've heard all the stories, and we've seen some of them, so we know how real the threat of drunken misbehavior is.
To curb "alcohol-related trauma" - which doesn't refer to you getting sloppy and un-in-a-relationship-ing your boyfriend on Facebook - UF has created a program called Gator Watch.
Similar to the Sideline Student Safety Zone in Jacksonville for the annual match-up against Georgia, Gator Watch is specifically aimed at preventing accidents on game day.
We hope that our version of the invisible drunken safety net is a bit more effective than the one used at UF-Georgia. At this year's game, we saw a girl stumbling around the Jacksonville Landing whose blood-alcohol content was probably higher than her grade point average.
When one of our relatively sober friends tried to help the girl, she couldn't find any safety zones or police officers. Some program.
UF better offer more than that if it expects to achieve its goals.
The program, which is spearheaded by UF First Lady Chris Machen, proposes five instructions for a successful program: Watch out for each other; act responsibly; take a taxi; call for help; and have fun.
We think the goal of Gator Watch is admirable, but we'll remain skeptical of the program because of these broad goals. These things happen every weekend, game day or not, but we only hear about them when something goes wrong.
