Editorial: Prove us wrong on new student seating

There has been much debate about the seating changes made to the West Virginia University Coliseum this week, both internally at The Daily Athenaeum and on our Web site.

Our initial reaction, which ran in Tuesday’s edition, featured concerns that the plan would undermine students in the long run – that taking away seats would hamper the ability of students to enjoy the games.

Our editorials are not written by those who do not attend games or are fair-weather fans. Our editorial board is comprised of diehard, camp out at the Coliseum, fans.

For this reason, our editorial rung from a concern that our experience at the Coliseum could change.

An already imperfect system could be further hampered by a new seating system, put into place a mere week before the first game tips off, with little announcement.

With any measure, our editorial and a column have certainly helped stoke interest and awareness of the change.

We stand by our decision to run the previous editorial.

But, we’d like to take this opportunity to clarify positions the former may not have mentioned.

As student fans – those who have stood in seated areas cheering on our Mountaineers – we were concerned the experience of throngs of fans would be lost in separating the lower-level student seating from the upper.

In the decision to make more room for students standing on the courtside, general admission seating was made available where students once sat.

We were – and still are – concerned the shared, student experience of screaming, supportive fans would be lost.

Would the students in the upper rafters be able to engage in a united student voice?

Or would they be forced to take a minor role in order to bring the desires of new seasonticket holders in consideration?

Students can get rowdy, and the experience of the new ticketholders shouldn’t be diminished because of this.

We certainly encourage any action the athletic department and Mountaineer Maniacs can take in making the student experience better.

Sunday will be the tell-all of how the system will or won’t work.

Nothing would make us happier at the DA than to see the student section packed in a uniform of Gold pride all season long.

We look forward to be proven wrong.

Go to the games, try out the new seating, and support the Mountaineers.
 

1 comments

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Mon Nov 16 2009 06:24

Well, I was at the game Sunday, and I thought it sounded twice as loud as ever, and the section wasn't even packed. It really wasn't bad standing because we actually did have the opportunity to sit during the pre-game and half-time. Even though we played a no-name team, I was really excited about the student turn-out. And compare us (students) to the general public--- we definitely showed up. I loved the new section, and not to mention the discounted concessions for students. I usually don't buy stuff at games because it's ridiculously over-priced and I'm a college student. But with $2 for a coke and $1 for a popcorn, it wasn't bad at all!

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