After several days of worries from the student body about what the University’s new season hockey ticket line policy would bring, most of the students’ fears about the system were brought to light in the early hours of last Friday morning. With little regulation provided by the University, students hoping to get tickets were met with a great deal of chaos.
They began getting in line Thursday morning, and the line was near 100 by early evening. After midnight, the line truly began to swell, with people arriving at a seemingly constant rate. General unrest also began to break out amongst those who were near the front of the line, as many felt that cutting was occurring.
Part of the problem seemed to stem from a lack of police presence after 1 a.m. Lack of rules about the line itself also amplified the problem.
As the night grew colder, more unrest erupted as some students tried to get sleep on tarps and in sleeping bags. University regulations prevented the use of tents in line, though some were present. A growing belief that line numbers would be handed out in the morning kept hopes buoyed, but many students found the night exposed to the elements to be a difficult one.
At around 7:00 a.m. Friday, the University handed out line numbers, much to the relief of the students who had camped overnight. Discontent was high however, and shouts at supposed line-cutters resounded throughout the line.
Lack of a single file line also created huge blobs as people were allowed inside five-at-a-time to retrieved the coveted numbers.
Jill Schleifer-Schneggenburger, grad, was first in line and saw most of Thursday and Friday’s events unfold before her eyes. She awoke early Thursday morning and decided to go ahead and get in line at 7:30 a.m.
“We checked the line at 7:30 and there was no one here, but we were up and
so we just started sitting here,” Schleifer-Schneggenburger said.
When asked how this year’s system compared to the systems she’s seen over
the last five seasons, Schleifer-Schneggenburger was quick to respond.
“This year appears to be the worst process yet,” the grad said. “Last year I
was a senior, and all of a sudden they switched from the seniority system,
but they still had a decent setup.
“[Last year’s system] was fair to everyone, everyone had an equal chance and there was a set of rules and you had to follow them. You had to put your
work in, but you knew what you were getting in the end. This is a lot more
difficult because you’re not really sure who’s cutting who; there aren’t