6A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2002
Students cheer on the men's basketball team as it defeats Iowa State. The Feb. 18 victory clinched at least a share of the Big 12 title for the Jayhawks. A group of students has met with Athletic Department officials about changing student seating in the fieldhouse.
FIELDHOUSE
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been fairly low the past few years. While he wasn't necessarily alarmed by the student attendance figures — Allen Fieldhouse is almost always sold out
he admitted the current seating arrangement might need tweaking.
"While we would like to have more students attend, it has not hurt the atmosphere of Allen Fieldhouse as the best place to play college basketball," Konzem said. "It is an issue, however, that is going to be addressed."
is going to basketball games are part of a $100 student sports package that includes football and men's basketball tickets. Vouchers must be redeemed at the ticket office for home game seats. About 6,300 students purchased the sports package this year.
No student seats are reserved. When the arena doors open, students rush to spots in the northwest and southeast corners of Allen Fieldhouse and directly behind both baskets.
Brad Nachtigal, director of athletic facilities, said he didn't think the current seating plan caused low student attendance.
"I think it has a lot to do with academic factors," Nachtigal said. "Basketball is not a top priority for everyone. We'd love to have them, but it's understandable why some students might not attend every game."
But some students argue that
low attendance has more to do with seating than with studying.
with seeing Outgoing student body president Justin Mills, a senior, went to a lot of games as a freshman and sophomore. Now he doesn't even purchase tickets.
"I don't go to games because I sometimes don't want to deal with the hassle," Mills said. "Students pour their hearts into every game. They deserve something better for their efforts."
Ryan Taylor, Prairie Village senior, holds student tickets to the games but often doesn't use them.
"I sometimes just buy reserved tickets from scalpers because I don't want to get packed in there. And you have to show up hours beforehand," Taylor said. "Even if they had to raise the price of a student ticket, I would definitely be more inclined to attend games if we had better seats."
Time for a change
After hearing hundreds of complaints about student seating at Allen Fieldhouse while running for office, off-campus senator Matt Dwyer decided to do something about it.
something are pissed," the "Students are pissed," the Wichita senior said. "I think a lot of them are fed up. I think it would be a great step if the athletics department at least had an open hearing on the subject."
Dwyer formed a group with six others students - Kit Brauer, Chris Cardwell, Peter Gogol, Larry Goltz, Hugo Vera and Andy Wymore. They met twice a week for
Student attendance at Allen Fieldhouse during the 2001-02 Kansas men's basketball season
KANSAN FILE PHOTO BY KIMBERLY THOMPSON
Kansas fans watching a Big 12 Tournament game at the Kansas Union celebrate a basket. Some students with tickets to home games are opting to watch them on TV rather than competing for choice fieldhouse seats.
10 months, researched the problem and came up with a 52-page booklet of stats and proposals.
"We had to show that things are broke." Dwyer said.
The booklet included petitions and letters, athletics department finance projections and alternative seating arrangements. It also provided evidence that other colleges were changing seating to accommodate student fans.
Athletics director Al Bohl and Konzem were impressed by the booklet and said they were willing to listen to Dwyer's case.
Brent Wasko / KANSAN
Both of Dwyer's proposals place students in the entire west side of the arena. One of the problems with the plan is that some alumni would have to be moved behind the baskets, where the students now sit. That would upset a lot of season-ticket holders and could potentially cost the athletics department hundreds of thousands of dollars. Konzem said.
"I like to refer to alumni as forerunner students," he said. "Alumni donate an average of about $550 each year, plus the cost of tickets to see the games. Students pay an average of $3 a game. It's tough to ask the alumni to move."
By raising the ticket price to $6, Dwyer estimated that the athletics department would make $2 million more from students each
Dwyer said there were ways to offset that possible loss of income, either increasing the price of student tickets or increasing the athletics fee included in student tuition.
season. All Kansas students, whether they hold ticket vouchers, pay a $20 athletics fee each semester. By raising that fee $10, the athletics department could make $245,020 more each semester, in effect subsidizing student basketball seating.
Konzem and Dwyer don't know exactly how much money from students would compensate for lost income if disgruntled alumni pulled their donations because of a new seating plan.
“It's a gamble you have to take,” Dwyer said. “If there’s a $6 million difference, I don’t want to see it dumped on the students. But the way the seating is set up now, it’s not an aggressive moneymaking plan. If you want to have this thing make people happy and make money at the same time, it’s not doing that.”
Konzem said possible lost income wouldn't be the only problem with Dwyer's proposal. Because of low student attendance, student fans wouldn't be able to fill an entire side of the court. Also, the plan doesn't solve issues relating to fire safety, such as having one fan per seat, and the hassles students endure to watch games at the fieldhouse.
General admission seating is at the root of those problems. A proposal currently being discussed within the athletics department would keep the student seats where they are now and split those sections into student reserved and student general admission.
SEE SEATING ON PAGE 7A
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