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The Daily Tar Heel

Students allowed to vote on basketball ticket policy

Can choose online from four options

Within 24 hours, more than 2,000 students have voiced their opinions on the future of the student ticketing policy for men’s basketball games.

On Monday, the Carolina Athletic Association launched an online survey to gauge the student body’s opinion.

The survey, which follows the frequently criticized one-ticket-per-student policy of last year, closes at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30.

CAA President Brandon Finch, who serves as the voice for the student population to the ticketing office, said the survey will be his way of listening to students.

“We’re giving students the option to help determine what they would like to see,” said Finch, who included the idea for a survey in his election platform.

Clinton Gwaltney, associate athletic director for the Smith Center and ticket operations, said this will be the first time a survey has been used to shape the policy. The survey, which is available through the CAA website, provides four potential ticket policies.

Students may vote once in the survey, and Finch said the final decision will be made by the ticket office.

He said three of the options have been adopted in the past. Group registration, the newest option, has been tested at Louisiana State University.

Finch added that the only game excluded from this policy will be the Duke game, which will continue to function on a seniority basis.

Regardless of the survey results, the ticketing policy this year will use three phases of admission to cut back on the amount of time students have to arrive before games.

Under the five-phase policy of the past, students waited as many as three and a half hours. Finch said the three-phase policy will cut that wait by about two hours.

Gwaltney, who has worked in the ticket office for 15 years, said the policy has changed almost every year and has been met by critics each time. He said he hopes the survey will deflect that criticism this year.

Finch declined to comment on his policy preference, saying he hoped the survey would allow for students to feel satisfied with the policy.

“I think it will ultimately fill the Dean Dome and make students happy,” Finch said.

Although Carolina Fever members can win basketball tickets through a participation-based point system, senior Claire Atwell, co-chairwoman of Carolina Fever, said her group is invested in the survey’s outcome.

Atwell said the one-ticket policy accounted for many unfilled seats and added that she hopes the survey will help students feel more invested in attending basketball games.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

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