It's just ridiculous, not because of environmental reasons, because balloons are for children, not grown ass adults. It's time to modernize the experience more.

most definitely, I think we should release environmentalists instead, they are naturally full of hot gas and are environmentally friendly....:)

Cigarette butts, fast food trash, plastic bags, candy wrappers, cans, gum, aerosols, broken glass...now let's get down to real pollution before we worry about some balloons.

Not all traditions are a good tradition... Slavery in the South a prime example of traditions that need to go away. We are smart enough to see that sometimes some traditions need to change (case in point people who want to change the Tunnel Walk song). As we obtain more knowledge of our actions, we should alter some actions if they adversely affect other things such as the environment, wildlife, gaming experience, etc.

I live in Florida and participate in beach cleanups and have seen the first hand side effects of dead animals that have ingested balloons mistaking them as food. There is no reason for these animals to die over something as silly as a balloon release.

It is mass littering. It needs to stop.

Because it is a terrible form of pollution that kills wildlife and wastes helium.

Balloons are very bad for earth and animals

It is litter- bottom line

Because voting the other way would be totally irresponsible ….. and STUPID! Does something have to become illegal before someone doesn't do something? We used to pour old engine oil on the weeds too …. but do we do that any more? well maybe the other side does?! some things really do need to change, and this is one of them.

I am a wildlife rehabilitator and an environmental educator. I have seen the harm that balloons can do to animals and I have spent the last 25 years teaching children that littering is a bad idea. The idea that a university would even contemplate continuing a mass littering tradition boggles my mind. The fact that this "tradition" also entails a near criminal waste of helium just put frosting an an archaic cake. STOP the Releases!

It is a lame tradition, it was probably cool in the mid 1900s. Live in AZ and watch all the games on TV. Every time they release those balloons, everyone I'm watching with looks at me and says cmon

We need it for the medical field

Even latex balloons take at least 6 months to degrade and in this time can cause plenty of harm to animals. You wouldn't be so reckless as to give one to a baby to play with, for fear of choking, so why would you allow an animal to eat one?

Environmental concerns. Balloons are not bio-degradable.

Balloon release (even "biodegradable" latex) harms wildlife: http://goo.gl/5FDoa Please don't litter

Better for the environment, plus the balloon tradition is pretty stale now. Fireworks are better.

As special as the tradition is... the game day experience will not diminish. GBR

Great Tradition

It's not some hallowed tradition, it isn't even terribly cool, and the environmental impacts are real. Bring on the fireworks, instead.

Wear the D down

Launch Roman Candles after 1st TD. Balloons are boring.

Balloons are so destructive and damaging to wildlife and sealife. They travel so far before they land and litter areas that aren't anywhere near where you've released them. Please reconsider your balloon releases.

Release butterflies or doves anything but ballons...the balloons are harmful to wildlife...getting tangled in the string, larger animals swallowing the pieces of balloon can can kill them....

As a lifelong husker fan, no matter what your opinion is about latex & if it is harmful to the environment - the facts speak for themselves. No life should be harmed for a tradition that is dated.

Too many balloons end up in our waterways as pollution

Balloons (even biodegradable ones) are horrible for the environment and the animals who reside in it!

I live on an island and see, first hand, the lethal, painfully cruel effects of balloon litter on our wildlife and farm animals too. There are other greater threats but that doesn't make this right. Even if only one animal was spared a painful death, a ban would be worthwhile. Set an example to others, the effect will then be multiplied.

Do you want to preserve the clubbing of baby seals because it's a *tradition*?? This is no different -- spent balloons cause precious wildlife to die, sometimes very slowly and painfully. This isn't about politics or environmentalism, it's about caring for the creatures you share this planet with.

Because releasing thousands of balloons is littering no matter how you look at it. Imagine if someone threw all those deflated balloons in your yard, house, car, or favorite park? It is totally disrespectful. Do a laser light show instead!

Balloons are litter. Balloons are deadly to animals. Protect our environment. Please

Balloon releases accomplish nothing except a fleeting moment of satisfaction from a decision that then causes years of death and suffering. Animals eat these balloons and die as a result. Birds of prey attack them, become tangled, and fall from the sky. They lay around for years and years, never really deteriorating the way they are advertised to. Release bubbles instead, they are much prettier and do so much less damage.

I have watched wildlife die after swallowing latex baloons. Why should they suffer just for our entert

I live in Holland. I regularly pick up balloons that lie on the beach. Some come over from England. How many of those will have ended up in the sea between our countries? Please reconsider your plans to release the balloons. You would be so courageous to do so and you would show that you can make a change and a contribution to a world with less litter.

I clean beaches every week and every week I find balloons. I'm one person on one beach, imagine how many balloons must be in the sea! Please don't add to this.

Its just making litter which has a long term negative environmental impact.

It's so simple to see that this is littering. Nobody would want all of those spent balloons in their yard, so why would you release them to end up elsewhere? They don't float off into space, you know.

I'm tired of people using Nebraska as a garbage can. Husker games generate a tremendous amount of trash. Eliminating balloons is a step in the right direction to curb environmentally harmful trash.

Because they litter for miles around. They endanger wildlife who mistaken the bits of balloons as food. Birds become entangled in them. And they do not break down as the balloon industry claims.

The litter that is produced by releasing balloons should be illegal....and it is life threatening to wildlife. Please consider some other way to celebrate!

It's littering. I don't think they'd like it if we threw those deflated balloons on their campus grounds- well I don't want them in our oceans and forests harming animals!

As a wildlife rehabber, I've seen the effects of wildlife who have either ingested or become entangled in balloons It is a horrific, slow and painful death for them and there is no reason for it. Balloons are NOT biodegradable regardless of what the companies try to tell you, they fall back to earth as litter, and it can travel far, far away. You can't control where it ends up and it is irresponsible to continue!

It is pollution on a mass scale that degrades ecological diversity. Maintaining traditions is important, but not to the extent that massive environmental harm occurs.

Balloons are a hazard to wildlife

because they aren't really biodegradable, and because I've had a pet that ate a balloon that landed and burst in our back yard and died from it.

There are so many ways to commemorate/celebrate these kind of occasions without releasing airborne litter. Move with the times and be good to your planet. <3

Because sacred cows make the best steaks

Absolutely! 7 Games! I'd want a study that actually shows what damage it actually does. Anyone can post pictures!