misdirected blame
Matt Bleecher
junior
Last Thursday, along with more than 4,000 other students, I waited for U2 tickets for what seemed like an eternity. I missed the Dillon Pep Rally and was pretty annoyed. Make no mistake about it, the ticket distribution system used by the JACC was just plain stupid.
Just like everyone else there, I was impatient, hungry and tired, and I needed a place to vent my anger. Not knowing who was in charge of the fiasco, most of us could only direct our anger towards the person we saw standing with the JACC ushers: Brooke Norton. This was a large mistake, and many of us owe an apology to Brian Moscona, the student government and most of all, Brooke.
First of all, in case anyone doesn't already know, it was the JACC ticket office and not the student government who organized the distribution. Brooke was just another student in line to buy a ticket, but, seeing the mass chaos around her, volunteered to help out. This example of proactivity should be an excellent lesson to all of us (me included) who can rant and complain about how unfair things are but not have the guts and courage to go and do something about it. That's exactly what Brooke did.
Second, what I didn't find until Sunday night was that the student presale that many of us attended is an extremely infrequent occurrence for U2 concerts. The only reason that we had a presale guaranteeing us students tickets is that Brooke fought with the U2 promoters until they gave in. If it weren't for her, we would have had to fight everyone else with Ticketmaster trying to get a ticket. Because of Brooke we were all able to get tickets.
For those of us who have ever held a position of responsibility, we know that it is not an easy thing. I cannot imagine the responsibility and commitment it must take to be student body president, and to be honest, I don't want to.
But those of us like myself who choose to not take on that much responsibility need to respect those who do and make sure we get all of our facts straight before slinging any criticism.
This concert is going to rock. Thanks, Brooke.
Matt Bleecher
junior
Siegfried Hall
Sept. 25, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, September 26, 2001
