The view from the stands

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Scott Schulz

In case you have failed to notice, right now we are smack dab in the middle of Homecoming week. Thousands of former students have returned once again to gossip about who has done what with whom since graduation, and to reminisce of a time when the campus was actually a place to study as opposed to being the shopping center it is today.

And with the big party comes the traditional football madness that we have all come to love and hate for various reasons. Why love it? Who would not want to make fun of the inbreeds from Washington State University and cheer our team to victory this Saturday? Why hate it? Lately, it seems you have to arrive at the games wearing brass knuckles should you wish to sit in the seat printed on your ticket.

Because of numerous complaints by students at the last few football games, officials at Arizona Stadium have made public their efforts to ensure the safety of student spectators by enforcing the correct seating of students. However this does not rest well with everyone and certainly does not end the debate over whether or not the UA should have open student seating at its sporting events.

Students hoping for a change in policy have been quite vocal in recent weeks. Various letters and columns in the Wildcat have claimed that student seats are "randomly" assigned, that demanding correct seating prevents the "real" fans from being closest to the field, that it allows too many good seats to remain empty during less populated games, and that the policy lets an excess of "less enthusiastic" spectators occupy the best seats.

Other arguments have brought attention to the fact that failure to sit in your correct seat is "tradition," and asked how people who come right before kickoff can expect to be able to sit in the seats they purchased.

On the surface, this collection of reasons might appear to be logical. Taking a closer look,

however, might change your opinion. If you are one of hundreds of students who purchased season football tickets, you are quite aware that you were not "randomly" assigned your seats.

You were given a map of the stadium and asked where you would like to sit. You then chose those seats that were either closest to the field or provided the best view of the game. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, that does not qualify as fitting the definition of "random."

It can be assumed then that the majority of student season ticket holders actually want to sit in the seats they selected prior to the season.

Furthermore, should the "real" fans wish to sit closest to the field, they would have jumped at the chance to purchase their tickets as early as possible last spring instead of wandering into the games week by week.

"Real" fans and "phony" fans both had the opportunity to plan well ahead of time where they wanted to sit during the football season. As they say, "the early bird gets the worm."

I could go on and attempt to refute all of the reasons given for why students should not have to sit in their assigned seats, but that would provide few solutions for the actual problem at hand.

The Wildcat has reported that open student seating is being considered at Arizona Stadium next season. This may look good, even very good, on paper, but in actual practice open seating would be an absolute disaster.

McKale ticket center officials say there are approximately 5,000 student seats available at each football game. Consider the scenario of another sold-out contest; such was the case a matter of weeks ago vs. UCLA. Now, imagine that you are one of 5,000 students arriving at the game in a crowded mob of 58,000 people, fighting for the very best seat available in the student section. If you are somehow successful in establishing your position, crushed together on the bench, shoulder to shoulder with everyone else, hardly able to breathe, consider the fact that should you leave at any time to go to the restroom or buy a Coke (or Pepsi in the case of the UA) you will most assuredly lose your seat.

Students would fight like crazed white sharks for their seats, and surviving would be a higher priority than the game itself. Expect nothing less than complete and utter chaos.

The solution lies not in changing the seating policy, but in expecting students to act their age during sporting events and exhibiting the fundamental principles of respect for one another.

On second thought, to be realistic, that is almost like asking students to come to the game sober.

Arizona Stadium needs to seriously enforce its rules for the safety of all of us. Does this kill the atmosphere? Only if you allow it to.

What could be better than knowing you have seats with your best friend reserved, and knowing in advance you will get to sit with that person as you go nuts for the Cats? Enjoy the game.

Scott Andrew Schulz is a communication junior and can be reached via e-mail at Scott.Andrew.Schulz@wilcat.arizona.edu. His column, Millstone, appears every Wednesday.