Before Saturday's football game, ASMSU and other organizations will kick off a new student-only tailgate with a disc jockey, reduced-cost concessions and intramural sports activities.

"This is a chance for students to have their own identity in the tailgate," said Andrew Bell, ASMSU's student assembly vice chairperson for external affairs.

After some of last year's tailgates resulted in excessive drinking and unsafe conditions, the MSU Board of Trustees and MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon worked with ASMSU, MSU Department of Police and Public Safety, Olin Health Center and other campus groups to provide a safer tailgate system with parking passes to ensure only students can park in the area.

The tennis courts on campus are designated as a student-only tailgate area. Students who want to park there are required to register for a parking pass on the ASMSU Web site and pick it up at the ASMSU office the day before the game.

There are 350 available parking spots, so 350 students will be randomly chosen from those who register each week to receive a parking pass. Passes cost $15, which is the same price people paid last year to park in the tennis courts.

For more on this story, please see Monday's edition of The State News.