Fifty people wait in line in front of a pair of portable toilets in the grass parking area along the south side of Elwood Drive.

It’s 2 p.m. on Saturday, four hours from the kickoff of the first game of the season for Cyclone football. The line for the restroom hasn’t shortened by more than a few people in the past few hours. More than a few adventurers decide to answer the call of nature in the trees surrounding the nearby creek.

The students who have decided to brave the lines take the opportunity to hash over the new parking regulations regarding tailgating around the stadium.

“A parking lot around a stadium is for tailgating,” said Seth Roecker, junior in construction engineering. “Every other stadium has prime tailgating around their stadium. Ours is now alumni parking — prime parking for people with money.”

A woman walks by in an “ISU tailgating for life” T-shirt. She takes one look at the line and continues on her way.

However, not all students were upset about the move across Elwood Drive.

“I like it [over here],” said Luke Schuldt, junior in agricultural studies. “It’s more free; it’s more of a community area, and the cops don’t seem to mind that we pee in the woods.”

The Northern Iowa game marked the first time new parking rules went into effect around Jack Trice Stadium. The new rules were meant to allow more parking for National Cyclone Club members, curb drunken tailgating and illegal activities in public parking lots and address security concerns.

Public parking areas were restricted to lot B-3 north of the stadium and the grass lots on the front lawn of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Students had mixed feelings about the new regulations and the effects they had on the tailgating atmosphere.

“I came over at 2 p.m., and the lot [by the stadium] was empty, and then I came over here and this lot is booming,” said Shay Robbins, senior in horticulture.

Ben England, senior in construction engineering, agreed.

“I walked over yonder and there’s no one tailgating,” England said, referring to the paved lots by the stadium.

“They shipped us out, and no one is even over there.”

Jacquee Kolbeck, senior in biology, said she was disappointed about the move, but ISU football and tailgating will always go hand in hand.

“It’s still the same environment,” Kolbeck said. “Everyone is together; it’s still a good time.”

One visible sign of discontent was a large yellow plywood sign on top of a student pickup truck declaring in bright red letters that this was “The Real VIP Parking.”

The sign was painted by a group of students at 1 a.m. Saturday. Mitch Vorthmann, senior in animal science, Peter Schultz, junior in graphic design, and Greg Peiffer, senior in genetics, were among the students who painted the sign. It was a last minute tribute to their feelings about their new tailgating grounds, Schultz said.

“This lot is full, that lot isn’t,” Vorthmann said. “The alumni want to come to the game, not tailgate. We’ll be heading into the game a half hour before it starts, and I’m sure we’ll be cheering louder than those other VIPs.”

Standing guard below the sign in the bed of the truck was a two-foot plastic Santa Claus.

“We found it in the trunk this morning,” Peiffer said.

“So we thought we’d put it up there.”

Two students walked by the sign on their way to the trees to relieve themselves. Vorthmann watched them go.

“There aren’t enough urinals around here,” he said. “It’s unsanitary. People shouldn’t be peeing so close to the creek.”

David Wetzel, senior in horticulture, pointed out there was one major difference between tailgating in the stadium lots and tailgating in the grass — pavement.

Of course, for the many students who were tailgating for the first time, the location wasn’t so much of an issue.

“I’ve never tailgated before,” said Lindsay Compton, senior in zoology. “It’s so much fun. I don’t think it really matters where we are at.”

The students seemed unscathed by the new atmosphere. Vorthmann said they had gotten along quite well with their Northern Iowa neighbors, even loaning them a spatula.

Overall, the biggest danger of the day would not come from rioting tailgaters, but from crossing Elwood Drive to get to the game.

“We’re having a good time,” Schultz said. “But we’re expecting to be roadkill on Elwood.”