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The Daily Tar Heel

Letter: ?Student section is too quiet and sloppy

TO THE EDITOR:

Attending a UNC men’s basketball game in the breathtaking Dean Dome is certainly a spectacle. When Brice Johnson receives an alley-oop pass from J.P. Tokoto for a slam dunk, Brice releases a ferocious yell urging the crowd to match his emotion. If the opponent that night happens to be Duke, his call to arms will undoubtedly receive support from the fans.

The Carolina-Duke game is unlike any other, but what ours fans seem to forget is that there are eight other home conference games this season; eight other chances for the Carolina crowd to become the kind of force that can actually have an impact on the outcome of the game. Five have already come and gone, so we’d better get to work.

For four years, I have complained to myself and friends that the problem lies with the “wine and cheese” section of the arena; the alumni who return for the tradition, and to sit back and watch the players entertain. I have complained that the student section needs to be bigger, and we should not be split in two. But as a senior, I am confident that the problem lies not with an excess of grey hair, but with a painfully obvious lack of organization in the student section.

Never is there an organized attempt to produce a backdrop so chaotic that an opposing player misses a foul shot, or to raise our volume to a level that makes it difficult for the other team to hear their coach call out plays. We should not condone the sort of maliciousness that would undermine the dignified tradition that Dean Smith established or blur the lines between our culture and that of the Blue Devils’. We need not sacrifice the Carolina Way to become a student section that can impact games.

But I urge Carolina Fever to work harder. Plant 20 borderline-deranged Carolina fans throughout the student section. Have them hold up white boards with pre-determined, team-specific cheers. Encourage them to incite enough energy to end Virginia’s undefeated streak. Help them produce the kind of student section that is not at the game simply to view a spectacle, but to be an integral part of it.

Sarah Hallowell

Senior

Economics, Political Science

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