The system that Georgetown Program Board and Lecture Fund use to hand out tickets for their programs is ridiculous. I know that this opinion is not just mine, and there are other people who agree with me. One of my friends and I discussed over lunch at the end of last week the absurdity of the situation with Billy Joel tickets. Both of us had wanted to get tickets but, unfortunately, we were unable to skip all of our classes and devote an entire weekday to waiting for the tickets to go on sale. Some people at this school apparently have things they have to do during the week. Some people hold jobs. Some people take language classes or seminars where attendance is required. Some people cannot throw away an entire day to wait for tickets.
I did it, however. I waited all day on Monday (except for having to skip out on my group of friends mid-day to go to my theology class, where attendance is required) to get my name on the list of those who will be allowed by the Lecture Fund to see Clinton speak on Wednesday. I skipped two French classes, which set me behind, but I had decided that for Clinton it was worth it. The thing that upset me was that I was told in an e-mail from Lecture Fund chair Brian McCabe (SFS ‘02) that I would not be able to get a ticket if I chose to go to my second French class (from 5:40-6:55 p.m.). He said, “Unfortunately, if you have to leave while you’re in line, we can’t ensure you a placeholder nor your spot in line.” I was aware that the day before they handed out “placeholders” two hours before distributing tickets so that people could not cut in line at that point. I completely understand their reasoning in doing this, but the fact that I could not go to a class that ended before the tickets went on sale because of this seemed wrong. My entire point is that people have classes during the week. It is kind of obvious.
The reason we are at Georgetown is to get an education. Our parents, or in some cases ourselves if we’re not so lucky to have millionaire parents, pay for these classes so that we can learn. My parents wasted probably more than $200 for the Monday that I decided to wait in line for a Clinton ticket. And I lost out on a day of both of my French classes, setting me behind academically. There has to be a better way. Why not just give out the tickets over the weekend?
I think Lecture Fund did better than GPB in this sense because they did give out tickets one day over the weekend and the argument could be made that it was my fault for not taking advantage of that day. What about the people who waited on Sunday and then came back on Monday because they couldn’t get tickets the first time? I know this piece will probably not change anything with the system, but I just want to let those in charge of the groups involved in this know that some of the students here think that could be a better way.
