Student Pirate Club causes student woes

ECU is becoming a name that is known to many of those out of state and outside of the Conference USA league.

Why?

Because the Pirates are winning and getting better every year!

Another thing growing steadily over the years has been the difficulty of obtaining football tickets.

I remember freshman year, three years ago, when all you had to do was walk up to the desk in Dowdy or go to Minges and flash your ECU One Card to receive your student ticket. The process took no more than 10 minutes.

Progressively, it has been more difficult to get student tickets if one has not signed up for the Student Pirate Club. Last year, when I was finally able to get a student ticket, it was at the 30 yard line and only a few rows from the very top row of the coliseum.

So, along with the evolving football team, I evolved as well and finally joined the Student Pirate Club. I was tired of not having a chance at getting football tickets for a home game.

However, this did not solve my problems in the least.

I have known that tickets obtained with the SPC cannot be given to any of my fellow ECU classmates. If I cannot make it to the game for any reason, I don't understand why a devoted and equally enthusiastic friend of mine who wants to attend the game, but couldn't get a ticket, cannot simply have mine. As long as security regulations are still in place and they have their ECU One Card to prove their studentship, I don't see any reason why they cannot be admitted. Is the only reason because they don't have the proper punch card or plastic card to be swiped?

The SPC still receives fees from whoever purchased the Student Pirate Club tickets, so they are not losing any money.

Even joining the SPC was a bit of a struggle because it became a game of beating all the incoming freshmen for a spot.

According www.education-portal.com, ECU comes in third after N.C. State and UNC-CH with over 23,000 students and its campus has grown 30 times in size.

However, in comparison to larger schools, like N.C. State, there is no system set up that rewards students with seniority or any other advantage to have a better chance at getting football tickets.

N.C. State's lottery system rewards students with points and the more points you have, the greater the possibility of football tickets and better seats.

For example, students who are seniors and students who have attended more games receive more points, like a reward for their ongoing support.

Although this may not be entirely fair to the freshmen, we all have to pay our dues and when they have been at the university for two or three years, they can enjoy the same advantages and priorities as the upperclassmen.

ECU's Student Pirate Club does not work in the same way at all. A freshman is just as eligible to get a ticket as a devoted senior.

And yes, with everything, there comes a degree of unfairness. If ECU were to employ a similar lottery system, this would mean that getting a ticket all together might be impossible in certain situations. But, isn't one of the main reasons why we love sports because of the exclusivity of it?

It makes that trip to go see the New York Giants so much more exciting because it is so rare, for most of us, to be able to get tickets for a professional football game.

Part of what breeds support, excitement and enthusiasm is waiting with anxiety to try to get tickets for games like the ECU vs. N.C. State game last year.

It all comes with a football team that is getting better every year. For the Student Pirate Club lovers, take this suggestion with a grain of salt.

It is only in extreme love for the Pirates' football team that everyone gets frustrated with trying to acquire tickets.

This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.