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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.
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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
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Cindy McMillian,
Editor
Timm Doolen, Managing Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor
Holly Becka, City Editor
Kathy Cox,
Kristin North,
News Editors
Nadja Sabawala,
Sports Editor
Eric Roalson, Art Director
Lisa Ann Robertson,
Lifestyles Editor
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Adventures In Cartooning by Don Atkinson Ji