Student Congress saved students from a ticket distribution disaster last Tuesday. But, amusingly enough, it was Congress that put them in peril in the first place.
A majority of Student Congress representatives voted down Tuesday the current distribution policy for the men's basketball season, then reversed that decision and approved the policy.
They recognized the obvious - had the policy been nixed without an alternative to replace it, no tickets would have been distributed Saturday. Congress did not discuss any alternatives to the procedure, which was presented to the group by Lindsay Strunk, president of the Carolina Athletic Association.
What made the situation potentially disastrous was terrible timing. CAA has been in a transitional phase since the resignation of former President Will Keith, creating a delay in the proposal process.
In addition, Student Congress did not hold a session the previous week - its Tuesday meeting was canceled because of the election. Both of these events contributed to the last-minute nature of the ticket distribution discussion.
Still, it's good to see that members have qualms about the system, which does have its flaws. For one, graduate students pay fees to the University, but the distribution process' UNC ONE Card requirement makes it difficult for them to sit next to their spouses or children.
It would be worthwhile to examine the distribution policies of other schools and to use these findings in proposing changes to the system. As Congress member Trey Winslett said, it's time to think outside the box.
A ticket return policy had been proposed to reduce the number of tickets that go unused, and though the CAA hoped that this option would be in place after the start of this season, it has not yet come to fruition. CAA officials and Congress members alike should keep this notion on the table.
Last Tuesday, Congress members had the right idea, but the wrong timing. Thank goodness that they didn't have to learn the hard way that the village mob chasing Frankenstein is nothing compared to thousands of ticked-off Tar Heels.
