There are some experiences that are far too sacred, far too intertwined within the college experience to be altered or done away with. I speak, of course, of collegiate mainstays like all-nighters, Saturday football, dorm life, dorm food, lack of sleep, spending while in debt, my opinion columns and Facebook — which I just joined several days ago after three years of belligerent non-acquiescence. These experiences can run the gamut from downright life-threatening to distracting to the most fun we've ever had in our lives. College life is rife with these experiences that will someday invoke that ubiquitous college-was-the-best / craziest / amazing-time-of-my-life feeling. Unfortunately for University of Wisconsin men's basketball and hockey fans, one of these experiences is going to change drastically. And we are no better because of it.

I received this rather distressing news sometime last week while perusing my rather active inbox, when I noticed an innocuous e-mail titled "New Student Ticket Initiative." After reading the detailed information provided by the Athletic Department, I realized that, to my horror, I would never be able to realize one of my most poignant dreams on this campus. I will never be able to be one of the first to be camped out in line for men's basketball tickets.

With this new ticket policy, the Athletic Department has, for better or worse, effectively done away with the age-old collegiate tradition of camping out for basketball and hockey tickets.

The Athletic Department's new policy will call for a number of exhaustive changes to the way we get our seats. Gone are the days of the most devoted of fans in the most prestigious lower-level seats. Now, seating will be based mainly upon your year in school. To me, this is a considerable blessing, since I will be a college senior next semester. However, I tremble with barely contained frustration at the thought that I will not be afforded the opportunity to earn my front row seat next season.

I will never have the opportunity to display my near zealot-like devotion to the Wisconsin men's basketball team by manning the line for my allotted time slot. Instead, I will band together with other upperclassmen lottery winners and hope that our cumulative group point total when divided by the amount of people in our group — otherwise known as group point average — is higher than all others.

Imagine basketball and hockey fans never having the opportunity to reminisce about the times you manned the line over two or three days in order to obtain your basketball or hockey tickets. Imagine instead reminiscing of the time your group point average was one of the highest.

Group point averages a sacred collegiate mainstay? I think not!

The Athletic Department had the best of intentions. Commissioning Chamberlain Research Consultants, the Athletic Department consulted student surveys about ticket distribution. The surveys showed that the previous system of ticket disbursement was fairly disdained by students. On a scale of 1 to 10, lottery winners expressed a satisfaction level of 5.45, with non-winners expressing a satisfaction of 2.77. It would seem that students were not at all happy with the previous system of ticket disbursement.
What the Athletic Department failed to see is that college ticket disbursement systems are like economic systems. Why do we, as a nation, embrace capitalism as our way of life? Not because it is the perfect way to run an economy, but because it is the best. The same can be said of our previous ticket system. In a perfect world, every student who wanted tickets would be sitting on the bench right next to Bo Ryan. Barring that, rewarding the most devoted of fans with the best tickets is the surest way of ensuring that Badger players and opposing players are hearing the kind of things they ought to be hearing, like "Britney Spears!" if you're Drew Neitzel and "Goggles are sexy!" if you're Marcus Landry.

So, it's over. Gone are the times where the most devoted fans sat in the best seats. Gone are the days of the shared experience of camping out for tickets. Gone are the days of sitting next to friends who were born a few years before you, but love J-Bo's shot just as much as you. For with its new ticket policy, the Athletic Department has done away with a unique and sacred college experience.

Gerald Cox ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in economics and Middle Eastern studies.