Students should not have to subsidize Playmakers

TO THE EDITOR:

With the recent outrage to the new basketball ticket policy (and yes, I’m outraged as well), I figured that it might be a good time to point out another absurd ticket policy that exists for students at UNC.

For those of you who have ever taken a drama class here at UNC, you’ll be familiar with the term “privilege card.”

These cards are essentially a $20 fee that we all have to pay for taking the class, and they allow us entry, at a discounted price, to the required plays that we have to watch.

Let me preface my argument with this: I appreciate fine art as much as anyone else. I love a well thought out play, and you could find some classical music on my iPod.

But requiring Drama students to attend Playmakers plays is absolutely ridiculous.

I recently had the “privilege” of watching Nicholas Nickleby, a seven-hour epic play that has been divided into two parts.

While sitting in the theater, I noticed that students composed what looked like more than 50 percent of the audience in the half-empty theater that given night.

This makes it seem like students are paying to ensure the survival of an entity. Apart from the forced student demand, is there a demand in the general public?

If people want to go watch these plays, do it.

But as a student, I should not be exploited monetarily because I’m trying to fulfill my general requirements.

If there is no demand for the Playmakers Repertory Company, then it should fail. After all, this is a capitalistic society, and Playmakers Repertory Company certainly isn’t deserving of a stimulus.



Rick Ingram
Sophomore
Political Science, Economics