A hot ticket

The University should be commended for creating an additional 800 seats in the Gantcher Center for this year's Fares lecture. Originally, many students objected to the online ticket distribution system, which was not in place for President Clinton's lecture last year, but it seems that the system proved to be efficient for this year's visit from President George H.W. Bush.

It seems only fair that every student who wants to be a part of this high-profile event should be able to go.

The only question that remains is if there is room for 2500 students in the Gantcher Center, then why wasn't the event initially advertised as accommodating that many students. When the ticket distribution system was announced this year, it certainly seemed like a number of students could be turned way due to lack of seating. This may have discouraged some students from submitting a ticket request online, as after the first day of request submissions, it seemed unlikely that any additional ticket requests would be met.

Next year, the University should continue with the online system, if the organizers can guarantee that every ticket request will be honored. Furthermore, the University should notify students of the absolute maximum seating of the Gantcher Center, which is now known to be 2500 students, in addition to honored guests. A visit from a former president, or any dignitary for that matter is a tremendous asset to the University, and there is no reason to turn away interested students if there is indeed room.