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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Ticket lotto today for Bush visit

The Student Union Board has announced that it has 200 student tickets available for President George W. Bush's talk on Social Security that will take place Friday at Notre Dame's Joyce Center.The tickets will be distributed to Notre Dame undergraduate and graduate students today from 3 p.m. to 8 through a lottery system, SUB said in a press release. Students may enter the lottery at the Dooley Room on the first floor of the LaFortune Student Center."Each student will be allowed to bring two Notre Dame student [identification cards] to be swiped for which two lottery tickets will be given," the press release said. "Valid Notre Dame student [identification cards] can only be swiped once."Following the close of the lottery, 100 winning lottery tickets will be selected. Each winner will be awarded two tickets to the event. The 100 winning numbers will be posted by 8 a.m. Thursday outside the SUB office, 201 LaFortune.A student holding a winning ticket number must bring the winning number and his Notre Dame identification card to the LaFortune Box Office. In order to receive a pair of tickets, the winning student's guest - the user of the second ticket to the event - must also be present with his identification card, said Jimmy Flaherty, SUB manager."Due to the secure nature of the event," the press release said, "the tickets for admission to the event on Friday will be tied to the names on the Notre Dame student [identification cards]."Flaherty said the Student Activities Office called him at around 6 p.m. Tuesday to inform him of the tickets, and SUB immediately sprang into action, drafting a press release and working to "get the information disseminated to students through class council [e-mail lists].""SUB felt this would be an excellent opportunity for Notre Dame students," he said, "and wanted to facilitate the distribution of tickets for the student body."Democratic and Republican students alike said they are planning on entering the lottery - or that they would enter, if their spring break plans didn't conflict."I think I'd be interested in going to the event, although I'm not fascinated by the topic of Social Security," Pangborn junior Eileen Varga said. "I think I'll definitely try to get tickets."O'Neill Freshman Eric Hoffman, on the other hand, said he was intrigued by the topic."I'd like to go if I weren't leaving earlier [on Friday]," he said. "I'd like to learn more about how he's trying to implement his Social Security policy."Freshman Sara Snider said she was "definitely interested" in lining up for tickets, and that she felt it was a good opportunity for the student body."As a student and part of this community, if you're going to go to any event this year, this would be it," she said. "If you have the ability to see the president speak, no matter what your political views are, I'd say it's something you should do."Varga agreed, and said she believed such an event would have an impact on any student's life."I would think the majority of students would want to go see the president in person," she said. "It's an event you'd remember throughout your lifetime."

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