Basketball lines randomized

Students who had been waiting in line for as long as seven hours were angered Sunday when a new policy trial randomized entry into the men’s basketball game against Florida State.

At the Sunday game, the ticket office tried a possible new policy — randomizing the order in which students would be allowed into the Smith Center for the riser line and regular phase 1 entrance.

The trial run was aimed at determining whether the ticket office should randomize entrance for all men’s varsity basketball games next year.

But Johnathan Flynn, president of the Carolina Athletic Association, said he is not sure whether the ticket office will use the policy again.

The Sunday trial was unpopular with many students, who said they weren’t told about the randomization until an hour before they were due to be let in.

Each student in line was then given a wristband with a number on it. One number was randomly chosen to be the first person in line, and students were admitted in sequential order.

Flynn said the policy, which has been used for past Duke games, was implemented because the ticket office received several complaints about students cutting in line at the N.C. State game.

Freshman Laura Fellwock, one of the students who had been waiting in line, said the policy is unfair.

“We didn’t know it was coming, and so we were very upset,” she said.

“We had showed up five hours before we were allowed to get into the Dean Dome, and we were finding out one hour before we were supposed to go inside — we had been out there for four hours in the cold — that suddenly they were going to allow people who had gotten there 10 minutes before they started handing out wristbands to cut into the front of the line.”

Assistant Director of Ticket Operations Tim Sabo said the office could have done better to warn students about the randomization.

Carolina Fever Public Relations Chair Joe Petrizzi said the leaders of Carolina Fever would be best suited to regulate line-cutting because they arrive hours before the games begin. He said they could regulate the line from the time the first fans get there to the time they enter the game.

Petrizzi also said the group presented an idea to the ticket office for a system that would prevent cutting in line but were told that the CAA would have to handle it.

“The randomization punishes the people who get there early, and we need to have a system in place that rewards the people who are willing to put their time and their own warmth and comfort on the line to cheer for Carolina,” Petrizzi said.

“You want them at the front. That’s how we create a better atmosphere at Carolina basketball, by letting the most dedicated and passionate people in the game — and in front.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.