Officials modify ticket distribution
By JASON McFARLEY
News Editor
Forget the campouts. Never mind the carnival-type events.
Spurred in part by adverse student reaction to past procedures, Notre Dame student government officials have scrapped the gimmicks and gone back to the drawing board to create what they hope is the ideal football ticket distribution system — one that is fast and convenient.
The system in place this fall, Kickoff 2001, comes in response to student concerns about waiting in long lines for tickets and attending tedious, undesirable events to get into the lottery system. Kickoff is, in effect, a modified version of the 2000 distribution method.
"We talked to students and looked at the system from last year," Peter Rossmann, senior class president, said in April. "What we found is that students want us to simplify the process as much as possible."
Last year, students attended a picnic complete with games and blow-up toys at Stepan Center. There, University ushers issued lottery stickers for students' ticket applications.
At the end of the night, officials drew a number to determine which student would buy tickets first. Sales proceeded numerically from the selected number, so that students with lower numbers than the chosen one bought tickets after students with higher numbers.
The first ticket-buyers were expected to purchases their season passes at 7 a.m. the next morning.
Changes this year include coordinating the distribution of lottery numbers with enrollment day on Monday and providing a timetable that estimates when students with particular numbers can purchase tickets.
"People can go to enrollment on Monday at the Joyce [Center], then cross the street to pick up a lottery number [at the Stadium box office]," Rossmann said.
First-year Notre Dame students can obtain ticket applications in their residence halls. A six-game student season ticket this year costs $114, a price that reflects a $1 per-game increase over the 2000 charge.
A 2001 season ticket is $152 for Saint Mary's and Holy Cross students.
The revamped procedure is the third in as many years.
In 1999, the lottery-style system allowed students to camp out in the concourse of Notre Dame Stadium over a three-day period.
Prior to that change, students camped outside the Joyce Center the night before ticket sales. Student alcohol consumption, safety concerns and trash on the site, forced University officials to abandon the unofficial system.
Other changes could be in store. Recent surveys conducted by the Student Senate indicate that most Notre Dame undergraduates favor a mail-in distribution system.
"If that's what students want, then we'll look into the possibility of it for next year," said Brooke Norton, student body president, in April. "Either this [Kickoff 2001] can be the system from here on, or it can be a one-year thing."
All News Stories for Sunday, August 26, 2001
