SGB predicts ticket trouble

It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the movie, but Jaws made an appearance at last week’s Student… It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the movie, but Jaws made an appearance at last week’s Student Government Board meeting.

And the board did not let him down, biting off quite a lot from various prominent issues — including the continuously controversial men’s basketball ticket sales.

Before the meeting began, President Brian Kelly brought in the newest addition to the board and placed him on the table at the front of the room. And when the meeting began, Kelly introduced everyone in attendance to SGB’s new goldfish.

Board member Joe Pasqualichio, who, like the rest of the board, wore an “Everybody Vote” T-shirt, assured everyone that as far as he knew, the fish was not bought with money from the student activities fee. And if it was, the fish did not cost more than $500, because the board members must approve requests for more than that amount. Pasqualichio said he had not come across any such request.

In reality, one of Kelly’s friends purchased the fish for SGB during a recent goldfish sale in Litchfield Towers.

With the meeting just days before yesterday’s scheduled basketball ticket sale, a perennial debacle, several board members expressed their disappointment in the athletics department and its failure to accept the board’s proposals regarding the sale.

The department ended up rescheduling the online sales because of problems with the Web site that allowed students to buy tickets early. See story, page 1.

In past seasons, the department has expressed dissatisfaction with the number of students actually attending the games. This year, student governments at Pitt devised and approved a system designed to resolve this problem.

The proposed solution would have created a multi-package, multi-day sale of the tickets.

Board member Charis Jones, who admitted to not being a basketball fanatic, started the discussion about the online sales policy.

“I know that our president wasn’t happy with the final solution,” she said.

Reminding the audience that the department recently cut March Madness, she added that, while she might not be passionate about the issue, she is willing to work with students who are, in order to find a better solution, if not for this year, then for the next.

“I’m really outraged,” she said of the proposal being rejected.

“Charis, fight the power.” board member Todd Brandon Morris said.

Board members Matt Hutchinson and Kelly led SGB’s efforts in working with the athletics department.

According to Hutchinson, the online sales are not going to resolve any of the problems related to the number of students who actually show up to the games.

“I think we had a great proposal,” he said.

And on Sunday afternoon, after the ticket sales were rescheduled, he expressed his disappointment with the sales postponement. He nevertheless added that if the rescheduled date will ensure that the entire process works properly, it was the right way to remedy the problem.

And when asked if he believed the proposal drafted by the students would have worked more smoothly, Hutchinson said he thought it would have.

Before ending the meeting Thursday, Kelly reiterated his opinion regarding the ticket sales. He said he had not planned to go into his opinion about the sales again, but the flame had been relit.

Initially, he had expected the department to use the suggestions presented, tweaking them accordingly. In the end, the entire proposal was thrown out.

“I have not heard any positive feedback from students about this plan,” Kelly said of the athletics department’s final decision. “I’m not going to praise the athletics [department], whatsoever.”

He added that the one-day, online process would not accommodate everyone and was, consequently, not necessarily fair. The Pitt Pathfinders, he said, had to reschedule an event just so the members could attempt to buy tickets. And for students who may have to work or be at church services at noon on a Sunday, the online sales did not provide equal access to true Pitt fans, he said.

Despite the department’s repeated pledge that the system would work this year, Kelly expected that it would not.

“We knew it was going to happen,” he said of the problem. “It’s their fault — not mine.”