The process by which students receive tickets to sporting events soon could change if talks between Student Congress and athletics officials continue on their current path.
At Congress' athletics committee meeting Sunday night, members began to hash out possible changes to a system that has been rife with contention. Congress members have cited problems with the number of tickets given to student athletic organizations, as well as complaints from graduate students unable to bring nonstudent guests to games.
"This is not to take away from the (Carolina Athletic Association), but to give the CAA more legitimacy," said committee chairman Trey Winslett. "A lot of people are expressing disillusionment with the current situation."
Specifically, Winslett discussed the number of tickets the CAA receives to basketball games, as well as their location in the Smith Center.
During the meeting, Matt Angelo - CAA's athletic-academic liaison - said the organization gets about 138 lower-level tickets to each basketball game: two each for the 32 people involved on the ticket distribution committee and two each for about 25 Cabinet members, with the rest going to other CAA members.
The CAA gave out more than 7,300 wristbands last week during the distribution of bracelets for basketball tickets - the most it has ever given out, said CAA President Lindsay Strunk. About 4,000 tickets were given out Saturday.
Winslett said that if CAA's internal tickets were given to alumni season-ticket holders, they would bring the University about $5,000 each, for a total of just less than $700,000 each year.
That figure prompted concerns about the location and number of the seats CAA receives, but those present Sunday didn't recommend any changes.
After the meeting, Winslett also cited efforts to reform ticket distributions that, he said, are "fixing one problem by creating another."
