Students began and ended this semester angry over the allocation of football tickets. And after the Athletic Department decided to resell 740 student section tickets to the public for the Nov. 18 game against the University of Mississippi, Student Government President Chris Odinet took action. Odinet sent a letter to Athletics Director Skip Bertman expressing his concern over the way the department treated the student body. The elected official then received flack from some student senators because they felt he should not have spoken on behalf of all SG members. Odinet and his administration have seen much criticism in this space before, but this time he did the right thing. He has the right to speak on behalf of the students’ government because he is the students’ elected leader. And we are glad he did something to address the students’ concerns. It’s only sad the administration didn’t listen to him. It is no big news that the department is in the business of making money. But when that goal is held higher than serving the students, the department’s values must be questioned. Bertman did not take action after the request of one student, but hopefully he will after listening to many more. Get Bertman to explain to you why students were not given a chance to fill the student section for the last home game of the season. Have him explain why some seats were resold to the public but not offered first to students. Tell Bertman you could not sell your ticket because the new resale process is too timely and tedious. Tell him you could not go to the game because you could not get a ticket most likely because they were sold out and could not find someone to go through the exchange process on time. Ask him why the student section ticket prices increased this season as the number of student seats are likely to decrease with most turning over to the public for a higher price. You can reach Bertman by phone at 225-578-3600 or by e-mail at [email protected].
—–Send letters to the editor to [email protected]