Editor:

Last week I was excited to attend the home opener against Utah State. As always, I arrived about an hour early to watch the team warm up and enjoy the atmosphere. However, to my surprise, nearly three-fourths of the prime student seating was cordoned off, as reserved for the Football Fan Club.

Last year I could tolerate only the lower portion of that section being reserved, but this year, they have doubled the amount of reserved seating for members of the fan club.

I have always thought that two of the nice things about the student section for football were that good seats were first come, first serve and that the general admission atmosphere allowed you to come with friends and find an open spot. You could roam around and hang out with everyone, provided there was space near them. Now, there is close to one-third (the best third) of the student seating being reserved for people who pay an extra $20, on top of what we already pay in student fees, so that they can show up whenever they like and still have their good seats.

The most embarrassing part was that when the team came out to warm up, there were tons of students already there to support them, but most of them were piled up at the top of the stadium or over in the corner while there was a huge hole of good seats that were empty. What kind of fan club do we have if it just means that the true fans who come early have to sit in the back and in the corner? At the very least, there should be some sort of policy, like get there 30 minutes early or forfeit your reserved section. That way, those who really want to watch the game, not just be seen, can enjoy it.

The vocal student section always seems to be upset with the Crimson Clubbers who show up after the first quarter and leave before the fourth. Now we are saving seats for students who act just like their posturing parents.

Jacob Tripp

Senior, Computer Science