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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1990)
r~ The Battalion OPINION Tuesday, October 23,1990 Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs How can Texas A&M lose income to scalpers? In regards to the article “A&M loses ticket income to scalpers” in the October 4, 1990, issue of The Battalion, Ty Clevenger reportedly had said, “ticket scalpers ... are stealing income from Texas A&M’s athletic department and blatantly Tipping off Aggie football fans.” My first thought was “How the hell is it possible scalpers are stealing income from the athletic department?” If a ticket is bought by a student, or anybody else for that matter, and then sells the ticket to a scalper, the athletic department still receives its money when the ticket was first sold; no loss of income there. If a scalper buys the ticket for resale, again the athletic department gets its money; no loss of income there. If, by chance, some tickets are given away, be it to a student, a former student, a scalper, or anybody else, the athletic department has already recognized the fact that no income would have been received for those tickets. Therefore, whatever is done with the tickets has no influence on the athletic department’s income; again, no loss of income. If an implication was made that football tickets are stolen and then resold, this would take away income Andy Reader’s Opinion Yocum from the athletic department. However, the scalpers, per se, are not the ones taking away the department’s income but instead the ticket thieves. So again I came to the thought “How the hell is it possible scalpers are stealing income from the athletic department?” I guess it was just a stupid thought anyway, not unlike my second thought, “How the hell are Aggie football fans blatantly being ‘ripped off?” I’m assuming Ty was referring to scalpers selling tickets for more money than what they paid. In that case, all Americans are being blatantly “ripped off’ each time we purchase merchandise from a local supermarket, discount store, hardware store, etc. Well, maybe Ty was referring to the fact that scalpers buy all the tickets (in which case the athletic department still gets its money) and then proceed to force the fans to buy the tickets. Yes, that’s more likely. But forced? Get real g u y- If, for instance, a fan is willing to give up $500 for a ticket and another person is willing to give up a ticket in return for $500, the two should trade and both would be better off. Neither person was forced and each got what was wanted more. This mutual benefit situation arises each time we all purchase from a local business. If one person would rather have a ticket instead of $50 and the scalper would rather sell the ticket for $75, nothing happens. The person is not forced to buy the ticket for $75, the person simply keeps his $50 and does not get the ticket. This type of circumstance happens daily when the price of “Pepsi,” or any other product, is considered to be too high. So again, “How the hell are Aggie football fans blatantly being ‘ripped off?” I just don’t know. By the way, scalpers don’t buy all the tickets available, they only buy a small portion leaving the rest to be sold directly to the public. But how about the services the scalpers provide to others? When a ticket is bought through the athletic department, typically the location of the seat is unknown and many times randomly drawn. However, when a ticket is bought from a scalper the seat is usually known beforehand. And how about the waste of your time to stand in line to get tickets, sometimes minutes, sometimes days. But when the tickets Reselling tickets won’t cheat buyer In the Oct.4 issue of The Battalion, Ty Clevenger, Student Body president said, “Ticket scalpers are stealing income from Texas A&M’s athletic department and are blatantly ‘ripping off Aggie football fans.” First of all people who buy tickets for the sole purpose of reselling them are paying full cover price for the tickets. Thus, the athletic department is getting what they ask for in price. This is hardly stealing. Also, the public is not forced into buying these tickets from “scalpers." The “scalpers” provide a service for people who wait till the day of the game to buy a ticket. This is self evident, because people buy these tickets from “scalpers” and must be made better off from this transaction or they wouldn't buy them. I’ve never heard any rational person say, “I feel like getting ripped off today, so I’m going to buy a ticket at above cover price.” People make these transactions willingly and negotiate freely. If the athletic department really felt that “scalpers” were stealing from them, the athletic department can freely compete with scalpers by raising prices to deter that activity. The word “scalper” has a negative connotation. When in reality the middle man function is prevalent everywhere in society. For example, “ticketrons” and travel agencies provide a service to the public. Which lowers transaction and opportunity costs to the public. The fact that these middle men exist is evident that there is a demand by the public for this service. Cory Moore is a senior economics major. Cory Moore Reader’s Opinion are bought from a scalper there is a minimal amount of time wasted. These are just two services scalpers provide for the populace, and apparently people believe these benefits are worth paying for. Ty, wake up and smell the coffee. We live in a nation where the people are free to market items of value; it’s called capitalism. Think about it. Andy Yocum is a graduate student. give the rings as; Myrm retaryfo lege of I 1972, Terry gr The 1 and mai nior at. ( : ord to ays. The i iimilar t of today. “Ever cept min Buts! mistake! Tm f she says. Altho A&M, sf versity. CO Bonfire promotes pride but injures environment Larry Cox’s editorial entitled “Tree buggers and faculty, don’t pick on bonfire” has left us confused and disturbed and requires defensive action on our part. Let us state up front that conceptually we are not opposed to activities, such as bonfire, which promote student involvement and comradery and provide an outlet for demonstrating university pride. However, we are opposed to bonfire (at its current size) from an environmental perspective and because we feel it sends out an inappropriate message from a land- grant university concerning the wise use of our natural resources. Larry’s editorial prompts this response not because of his views concerning bonfire, but rather because of the way he maligned fellow students who are members of Aggies Against Bonfire. None of us are members of this organization, however, we do support their general objectives primarily because of shared concerns on environmental issues and questions related to activities such as bonfire. Why then are we so confused and disturbed by Larry’s comments? It is because we, like Larry, are graduate students in range science, a profession dedicated to the study, conservation, and wise use of natural resources on a sustained basis. Therefore, the people in Aggies Against Bonfire described by Larry as “ ... long haired tree buggers ... having naturist philosophies ... and commune with Mother Nature’s karma ... ” have many of the same environmental philosophies as members of our (and Larry’s) chosen profession. How he can dismiss so easily these people dedicated to a cause (in part because of environmental concerns) with such unwarranted and unconstructive name-calling is both ur ia.il Reader’s Opinion Mihlbachler troubling and appalling. Interjecting such name-calling into any open forum detracts from the basic value of free discussion and only adds useless emotionalism to an issue. We suggest that if Larry truly feels that people who^align themselves with causes such as Aggies Against Bonfire (which has an environmental component) warrant such verbal attacks he find himself a new profession. If Cox maintains his apparent attitude (and vocalizes this attitude) toward persons who take up such We suggest that if Larry truly feels that people who align themselves with causes warrant such verbal attacks he find himself a new profession. issues he certainly will not be effective in a profession that requires a great deal of open-mindedness to fairly and adequately address the needs and concerns of all parties interested in natural resource management, conservation and use. These are the opinions of only the undersigned and in no way are intended to represent the opinions of other students and faculty members in the range science department. However, we feel that in general most people concerned about natural resources from a variety of disciplines would agree with our opinions, but we welcome alternative views. Brian Mihlbachler is a graduate student in range science. His signature was accompanied by the signatures of Debbie Miller, Asa L. Aradttir and Jeff Murphy. Mail Call Are Aggies this rude? EDITOR: As a former graduate of Texas A&M University, I be lieve in supporting your alma mater whether that be in sports or your band. I attended the LSU/Aggie football game on 9/29/90 in Tiger Stadium. My seat was located in the LSU student sec tion where I sat with LSU relatives. I was prepared for the verbal harassment by their alumni and students. I was not prepared for the physical abuse that erupted at halftime. These fans ripped my shirt, threw coke, ice and liquor bottles at me because I was an Aggie. The band was also bombarded by these items. Obscene chants and cheers were also directed at us. I can ignore almost everything but when it comes to physical abuse something needs to be done! I hope that incidents like this will NEVER occur at Texas A&M because I believe that we have more respect and dignity for our visitors that come to College Station than other institutions might have for us. Remember to drink in moderation and let’s use this asa lesson and learn from it. Denise Martin Milby ’82 Have an opinion ? Express it! Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editonol stafj rt- serves the right to edit letters for style and length, hut will make ei>ery effort to main tain the author’s intent. There is no guarantee that letters submitted will be printed. Each letter must he signed and must include the classification, address anti telephone number of the writer. 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