By Julia Eckhardt
Reporter
Gone are the days of waiting in line at the Bill Daniel Student Center with hundreds of people I have never met, all of us eagerly anticipating the same thing: next weekend’s football game. Sure, waiting in that long line wasn’t always the greatest, some days you might have been sandwiched in between two groups of sorority girls who just OMG, OMG, love, love, love each other. Sometimes you might have been shoved out of the way by someone making a break for Chick-Fil-A (sorry if that was ever me), but waiting in that line was infinitely better than the new ticket distribution system.
In theory, an online ticketing system is awesome. Whether at home or on the go, students can log on and with the click of a button reserve their seat in the glorious new McLane Stadium.
In reality, thousands of students, including myself, spent an hour staring at the little counter on our computer screens hoping that this next page refresh would be the one allowing us access to the coveted ticket. It felt like freshman year class registration all over again.
Instead of everybody all logging in at once and crashing the website, there should be a staggered admittance beginning with seniors, then juniors, then sophomores. Because the demand for tickets is so high, freshmen should only be allowed to sit in the Line.
At least waiting in line there was tangible proof of progress. We always shuffled forward at a surprisingly quick pace getting closer and closer to our goal of obtaining the paper displaying a ticket on one side and a coupon for tacos on the other.
With the online system we have to make it a point to be in front of a computer screen at 5 p.m. six days before the next home. That puts any student with a job at that time at a severe disadvantage and reduces their likelihood of ever getting a ticket.
I understand that the policies are meant to encourage maximum attendance and that is great. When the stadium is full it makes us look really good on TV, but for a school so concerned about wasting student tickets that they are willing to impose penalties, it makes little sense that they also won’t let you transfer your ticket directly to another Baylor student.
It also doesn’t seem right that we have to return our tickets by the Thursday before the game or face further restrictions for the next home game. At least make the deadline Saturday morning. Trust me, there will be plenty of students at the tailgate without a ticket, desperately wishing for one. Anyone hoping to pick up a ticket on game day should have the option of waiting in line at the stadium for leftovers during the tailgate.
Hopefully as the season progresses, adjustments will be made that will ease the frustrations of the students.
Julia Eckardt is a senior film and digital media major from Alexandria, Va. She is a reporter for the Lariat.
