To the Editor:
Thursday’s story titled “OSU Athletics: stop selling tickets” should have been aptly titled “OSU angry it’s not getting its cut in ticket sales.”
The story goes on to mention how athletic department officials say the selling of student tickets is against the agreed upon code of conduct. The irony of the situation is that the athletic department charges an increasing fee for each ticket a student decides to upgrade (which puts the total cost above the price for a public ticket), and thereby themselves are profiting from the sale.
Do they think a student is upgrading the ticket for the fun of it? If re-selling tickets is against their policy, why make the upgrading option available?
It’s funny the university has no problem increasing their fees each quarter as a backhanded way to keep tuition down and then wonders why students are in dire need of extra money.
It’s time to get off the high horse Ohio State and make up your mind. If you’re going to be greedy all the time, just come out and say so.
Steve Goldsmith Grad Student
To the Editor:
In response to your article titled “OSU Athletics: Stop Selling Tickets” I have a simple response: No.
I will not stop selling my tickets after I wait in an hour-long line to pay an additional $33.00 to just ‘upgrade’ them. All I do is sell them for what is ‘market price.’ The ticket sales are just the cause of supply and demand. I learned about supply and demand at Ohio State, and I also learned that I get stuck with a huge tuition bill every quarter and also an astronomical set of ‘fees’ that I don’t even use or want on my statement.
I have been here six years and I think for as much as we spend on schooling, we all have a right to sell our tickets to anyone who we want to. That’s right, even to the highest bidder on eBay.
I think the complaints are from people who wish they could get in on the profits, and want to outlaw students from receiving any type of monetary gain from the OSU football team.
Sara ButzHealth information management and systems
To the Editor:
Dear Bill Jones and The OSU Athletic Ticket Office: Please stop exploiting your students. Here is a question for you; if students are not allowed to sell their tickets, why is the ability to upgrade them available? I think the answer is clear; money.
You sell a ticket to a student for $29 then charge them $30 to adjust for the face value of the ticket. This is reasonable but then there is a $5 increase each time a student upgrades a ticket. So now you get more money then the face value of the ticket, isn’t that what the student is doing when he or she sells his or her ticket?
Students are the ones spending the money on tickets, hats, shirts, jerseys and other items that directly benefit and help fund the athletic department. Mr. James you’re going after the wrong people. Why punish those who fuel your existence (and salary) when the bums on the corner can sell their tickets for ungodly numbers?
Every other college or university in Ohio allows students to attend football games for little or no cost, so when a student forks over the money for tickets they should be allowed to do whatever they please with them.
The solution is simple: make your stance more clear than the fine print of online ticket ordering, remove the ability to upgrade tickets and stop exploiting students.
Stephen Pitts HistoryJunior
