One of the defining experiences of being a student at this University is spending a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Fewer things bring home the reality that one is part of something bigger than sitting with friends and fellow classmates in Death Valley cheering — or booing. Now, thanks to the newly proposed ticket policy, this experience is moving to embrace fairness.
By ending the practice in which students belonging to campus organizations — Greeks, Ambassadors and the College Democrats for example receive two tickets for reserved seating, the University has done well in its attempts to make the seating situation a more equitable process.
Further changes in the process include stipulating that season tickets can only be sold to those with a GPA higher than a 2.0, as well as putting sixth year seniors behind freshman in line for tickets. We think this is fair. Those who have a GPA lower than a C average would be better served by watching the game at home and studying. For those who are in their sixth year at this University, it is, in all honesty, perhaps time to make way for those who have yet to experience the excitement.
The last two significant developments leave the most room for complaint. Ditching the old lottery system that used to assign bowl game tickets, the University has instead opted to use a points system. This will reward students who travel to away games and attend other University sporting events and push them higher on the list than those who solely attend football games. While we applaud those who are involved in athletics, who are willing to make long drives or attend less popular sports, we cannot help but question a system that discriminates against those who are perhaps too poor for road trips, or simply don’t care to attend, or are too busy to watch other sporting events. We don’t doubt the good intentions behind this argument, but we would like to see it refined.
The issue of putting bar codes on tickets, or some form of identification also raises some questions. It is no secret that an immense amount of ticket scalping goes on outside of Tiger Stadium. Indeed, this was a way for those who had missed the deadline for tickets to get into the stadium, usually at or slightly above ticket price. Now it seems that this may be gone. If this is the case, then the old policy in which students could simply give their tickets to a friend at the last minute is also going down the drain. This is an unfortunate component to an otherwise sound plan.
We have high hopes for this new policy. In addition, we look forward to the resolution on the issue of tickets for graduate students, and whether those in the professional schools of law, medicine or the veterinary school are allowed to get student tickets. In all, though, we believe that what has been done is in the best interest of the student body as a whole.
The Daily Reveille Editorial Board is: Scott L. Sternberg, Editor-in-Chief; Mark F. Bonner, Managing Editor; Ryan Merryman, Opinion Editor; Dorothy E. Paul, Online Editor; Jason Dore’, Columnist.
The Editorial Board produces weekly editorials written by the Opinion Editor which express the views of the Editorial Board. However, the opinions of the board do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of The Daily Reveille’s staff.
This editorial was written by the editorial board of The Daily Reveille. The views expressed are those of the board and do not reflect the views of the entire staff.