The wheels started turning in the Student Senate Monday as senators gathered for their first meeting of the 2006-07 school year.
University Director of Ticket Operations Josh Berlo and Associate Director of Ticketing Maja Hansen spoke to senators about changes that were made to the football ticket exchange program - a procedure that allowed students to swap a football ticket from their student booklet for a non-student ticket.
Tickets can be exchanged on the Tuesday before a home game from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Gate 10 Box Office at the Joyce Center. In previous years, students could exchange them on Wednesday as well.
Berlo said there has been "rampant abuse" of the ticket exchange process in recent years, as students have sold their tickets for profit on Web sites like Ebay.com.
"[Tickets] were getting out into the secondary market," said Berlo, adding that the ticket exchange process was designed to provide tickets for close family members or friends - not strangers on the Internet.
As a result, students who wish to exchange their student tickets for a non-student one must provide the first and last name of the person who will be using their ticket.
"That puts the onus on the student to tell us who is going to use their ticket. ... The other option was to do away with the program," Berlo said.
The ticket office will only exchange 300 student tickets per home game and 750 for the UCLA game, since it is at the end of Fall Break.
"We think we have found a way to preserve this benefit to students," Berlo said. "It's important to us that if you can't attend you can utilize that ticket for someone who is close to you."
In other Senate news:
u College Readership Program organizer Chris Harris reminded senators that CRP will launch today. He said about 400 papers will be available at each of four spots on campus (South Dining Hall, North Dining Hall, LaFortune and near the Joyce Center parking lot).
Student government leaders will be wearing and handing out "Stay Connected" t-shirts to help advertise the new program, which is funded by a $15 Student Activities Fee increase.
u Student body president Lizzi Shappell, student body vice president Bill Andrichik and chief executive assistant Liz Brown updated senators on progress they made during the summer months.
Shappell said she has been working on an eating disorders conference slated for second semester. Shappell's focus this fall will be working with the South Bend Common Council to make changes to the recently-revised South Bend disorderly house ordinance.
Andrichik told members about his work on adding new items to Grab and Go and getting students access to GoIrish, an alumni networking Web site.
Brown sat on a committee that selected new channels for the cable network in dorm rooms. Her committee made recommendations, but those have not been finalized.
