UPDATED 11:58 a.m. 9/28/2006

Athletics will officially implement the new proposal for student stadium seating at the Florida State game on Oct. 5, which makes section assignments contingent on student arrival times at the gate, according to Dick Christy, assistant athletics director for external operations.

“Ticket Return is able to adjust the tickets to print [General Admission],” he said in an email at 11:07 a.m. this morning. “We had an operations meeting this morning to discuss logistics and will have a follow-up to hammer out the final plan tomorrow.”

********************************************* A committee of representatives from across the University revealed yesterday that Athletics will no longer assign sections online for student tickets prior to football games.

Starting Oct. 5 at the Florida State football game, event staff will assign sections to students contingent upon the time students pass through the gate.

As students enter Carter-Finley Stadium, event staff will stamp their hands to indicate their assigned area. Under the new system, the section event staff awards each student is entirely contingent on how early that student arrives.

According to the committee, the first 2,600 students that arrive at the gates, which open 90 minutes before kickoff, will have their hands stamped with “7 & 8,” assigning them to sections seven and eight only. All other sections will follow accordingly.

Dick Christy, the assistant athletics director for external operations, said the proposed remedies depend on the ability of the developer of the online ticketing system Ticket Return to make changes before the claim period begins.

He said a preliminary conversation with a Ticket Return representative Wednesday evening yielded confidence that athletics can implement the new system by the Florida State game, although he will not be “100 percent sure” until 9 a.m. today.

The decision to amend the current student ticketing process comes on the coattails of events that took place last Saturday at the Boston College football game at Carter-Finley.

“Obviously, everybody is aware of the issue in sections with overcrowding,” Christy said at the meeting. “This was largely due to the counterfeiting of section seven and eight tickets.”

He noted that counterfeit tickets are not a new issue.

“We have been able to manage it in the past,” he said. “[The issues are] getting to epidemic proportions.”

Christy also acknowledged urination problems at the game after event staff prevented students from re-entering their section after leaving.

“The thing with urinating — I think there was a misunderstanding,” he said. “Students made a decision that either [they] could go [to the bathroom] or relocate to another section — or just go.”

Christy indicated that the goal of the committee, which included numerous representatives from Student Government, athletics, Campus Police and the administration, was to come up with an added security measure that will eliminate game day issues.

He pointed to specific issues such as safety and overcrowding.

Brian Kelly, the assistant athletics director for ticketing operations, said the new proposed system will deter fake or copied tickets.

“You would scan the ticket and immediately get [a stamp],” he said. “There would be no chance for an invalid section seven and eight ticket [to get through].”

Student Body President Will Quick, a primary proponent of the new proposal, noted a concern about using ink stamps.

“With some stamps, I have heard that you can lick the back of your hand and then put it on your friend’s hand,” he said.

Jokingly, Tom Stafford, vice chancellor for student affairs, offered a solution to students licking hand stamps.

“We can use poisonous ink,” he said.

Stafford then went on to offer a serious solution, suggesting the use of the same ink that Carmichael Gym uses, which according to him, won’t sweat off.

Christy added to stamp concern solutions, indicating that event staff will use a different stamp each week.

“[We can make the stamps] unique for each game so we don’t get people who don’t shower for a week trying to use their stamps,” he said.

During the meeting, Kelly said the Florida State game is ideal for a trial due to high attendance.

But Christy was cautious, identifying a “major” policy change before a “major” football game — the Virginia Tech game last season — which was the first time athletics utilized Ticket Return for football ticket distribution.

According to Quick, general admission sections are something he has pushed for two years.

He stated following the meeting that historically, Stafford was against general admission sections. But Stafford didn’t illustrate Quick’s claim in the meeting and said he is in full support of the new system.

“I am all for a process that gets [students] in early,” he said. “This will work.”

Stafford also said the new policy will eliminate ticket alterations.

“This will eliminate Photoshop and other problems as well,” he said.

As the meeting went on, the new plan became increasingly popular among the committee as it discussed solutions for possible complications.

But Quick noted a primary concern for students all season — tailgating.

“[Will] tailgating be extended an hour?” he asked.

Stafford’s response yielded laughter among the panel.

“I like this because tailgating will be reduced by an hour,” he said. “Not a bad idea.”

Adam Compton, student body treasurer, also offered his concerns about tailgating.

“If this is going to be the solution to the problem,” he said. “I would personally like to see longer tailgating hours.”

But the committee’s plan is not flawless, especially in the case of block seating.

“Block seating will continue for purposes of an entire group getting tickets,” Christy said. “If they want to sit together, they have to come [to the gates] together.”

Compton encouraged students to provide Student Government with feedback on the new proposal.

“I hope that students will be willing to give us feedback on the whole process,” he said.

Christy noted that Clemson University, Maryland University, West Virginia University and Virginia University all utilize general admission sections for student ticketing similar to the proposal the committee set forth.

Quick offered his confidence in the proposed student ticketing policy.

“This is the best solution to mitigate duplication of tickets,” he said.

Compton, however, said he prefers the original ticketing system — prior to Ticket Return and the new online distribution.

“Going back to the old ways will probably be the best solution to the problem,” he said. “I don’t think students are going to like this.”