Travis Taylor | Lariat Photo Editor
By Rebecca Flannery
Reporter
Aching feet, strained backs and a drone of unanimous ‘how long have you been here’s’ — it must be that time of the year again. Tickets for All-University Sing went on sale Thursday in the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Students got in line as early as 7:30 a.m. to get the tickets that went on sale at 8 a.m. Instead of waiting only 30 minutes, however, the line took upwards of five hours to get through.
Cheryl Mathis, assistant director for campus programs, said the department anticipates the long line every year.
The Student Activities office had made adjustments for this year’s sale, but they didn’t keep the crowd down for long.
At some points throughout the day, the line wrapped the den a few times. Students were shuffled around every so often to make sure customers for Einstein Bros Bagels could get through and to let students partake in Chalk Talk.
“We’ve actually started earlier this year than normal,” Mathis said. “We know the tickets are always in high demand, but we wanted to give our students the first selection of tickets for the show. … We tried to condense the lines as much as possible because we want to be considerate of everything that goes on.”
While those in the Student Activities office said they properly addressed the issue of the line, students and faculty had different opinions.
Spring freshman Mariana Echeverri said she came to wait in line around 10:30 a.m. only to leave five minutes later after seeing the line wasn’t moving. She returned later to see if the line had shortened.
“When I got in line, it was all the way back there,” Echeverri said, pointing back to the Quizno’s in the SUB from her position near the front of the line. “That was an hour ago.”
Another student, Corpus Christi senior Becca Vijjeswarapu, said she was there for five hours with her friend who saved her place in line starting at 8 a.m.
“After standing two hours in line, we didn’t want to leave,” Vijjeswarapu said. “Other people in line said they tried buying them online last year and it was more of a hassle than this. So we stayed.”
“I got there at 7:30 and stayed until after 1 p.m. Five hours,” said Cleburne senior Tara Mears. “At first it was OK, then at the end people were getting irritated. People were missing class. I missed one class; I never do that. Some of us thought they were doing it on purpose so they wouldn’t sell out too quickly.”
There was a technical problem that occurred with the ticket computers in the middle of the day. However, this setback didn’t last too long.
“We had one glitch with the program,” Mathis said. “But the way our system is set up is that it instantly has a backup system. We didn’t have any pauses with it once that happened.”
Whether or not the Baylor students, faculty and staff enjoyed standing in the line, they did it regardless.
“I can remember as a student when I was in Sing waiting in these lines,” Mathis said. “It was all worth it when I got to see the show.”
Ticket lines should subside starting tomorrow, as the online ticket sales will begin.
