University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Contributing To Spirit By Pulling 'Overnighters'

The arguments submitted
by Doug Doughty in favor of
the new basketball ticket
distribution system fail, in the
view of this writer, to justify
the scrapping of a system
which not only proved more
than adequate to the task at
hand, but which possessed
virtues found lacking in the
new one.

It may be true that students
do not enjoy standing in line,
and it may be true that not all
students who wished to see the
games had an opportunity to
do so. However, the one does
not necessarily follow the
other, and as counterpoints the
following are submitted to the
reader:

1) Contrary to Mr.
Doughty's statement, length of
wait in many cases was not
even a function of a desire for
tickets per se, but rather of a
want for choice seating
locations and (at least in the
case of Midwinters weekend
last year) the limited number
of date tickets allotted the
student body.

2) Contrary to popular
belief, many more activities
take place in the afternoon to
be missed than in the evening.

3) For at least this writer,
the experience of an
"overnighter" had a value in
and of itself apart from the
tickets.

The implications of these
three counterpoints are as
follows:

1) People who place the
highest value on seat location
and date tickets have a higher
probability of missing out
under the new system.

2) People able to give up an
evening but who, for one
reason or another, cannot
afford to "louse up" an
afternoon (for one must still be
one of the chosen few in order
to get tickets) miss out under
the new system.

3) If in fact willingness to
wait is a function of a desire
for the tickets themselves (and
for important ACC games this
is the case) then the likelihood
exists that some of the Hoo's
most rabid fans might be
excluded by afternoon
commitments. (My apologies
to Dr. Elzinga and the
economic theory of
elasticity...)

It is requested that the
third counterpoint not be
construed by first-year men as
an attitude of "Well, I had to
so you might as well." Rather,
it is sincerely held that the
experience of an "overnighter"
was a healthy one contributing
greatly to spirit at games and
to what Coach Gibson has oft
cited as an "ACC Atmosphere."

If the athletic department is
so concerned about empty
seats at basketball games, it is
submitted that a more
equitable solution would take
the form of retention of last
year's method of distribution,
coupled with a cutback of the
number of I.D. cards honored
per student from four to two.

The serious review of the
new system as presently
constituted, and some form of
revision, is strongly urged.

Difficulties

As one of eighty-four
students placed in a temporary
triple, I tried to overlook the
difficulties of changing
dormitories, including: leaving
my new friends after two
months of my first year, losing
money paid as various fees at
my first dormitory, and
making ten trips to carry my
possessions to my room
without transportation. I
realized that the University was
probably trying to do its best
under crowded conditions.

A special letter of gratitude
was certainly not expected, but
when I opened the letter that I
received from the University, I
found a bill for $27.00. This
was to make up the difference
between the room rates of the
double and triple rooms. My
two ex-roommates received bills
for more than this for their
inconvenience. This was hardly
meant to compensate for the
sacrifices these students made
to provide the solution to the
University's over-crowding
mistake.

The University avoided the
expensive solution of building
new dormitories for many
hundred thousands of dollars,
and yet is small enough to send
bills for $27.00 to these
students after they left their
triple rooms. Admittedly,
however, even dropping the
bills to these students would be
small compensation for the
inconvenience and difficulties
which they have had.

Mr. Main, the Housing
Director, while sympathetic to
the problems of a triple and
while understanding the
inconvenience involved, stated
that there was no way that
they could compensate for
them. Ironically, the reason
given that the $27.00 bills
could not be dropped was that
all students must be treated
equally. I gladly appeal to the
students' idea of equality.