SG will change method for future ticket sales

Re: “Students still mad over football tickets,” by John Calkins, Sept. 15.

Since when is the “me first” attitude more important than supporting the team? When did people become this selfish?I am a member of Student Government and was one of the students behind the ticket sales. I have to admit I thought selling the tickets in bulk was a great idea.

First of all, with a growing athletic program like USF’s, it is nearly impossible to gauge student response to events. This is why determining how many buses to get for home games was so difficult. This is also why SG only bought 500 tickets when it first dreamed up this project, and why it allowed them to be sold in bulk. SG’s worst fear was spending thousands on the tickets and not selling them all.

USF faculty members working in the Athletic Department actually thought 500 might have been too many tickets when SG first brought up the idea. Now, there were 1,250 students who went to the game Saturday to cheer for the Bulls. That is what counts.

I understand many students are upset about not getting tickets. All I can say is the student who bought 400-plus tickets was very well organized and took steps to make sure he and his friends could attend the game. Selling 1,250 tickets one by one would have taken forever, and SG most likely still would not have sold all of them. Any resident assistant of any dorm, captain of any intramural team or any other campus leader could have done the same thing for their organization that Charlie Aguirre did – the tickets were first come, first serve, and getting rid of all of them was indeed a priority.

Just because many tickets bought in bulk were for Greeks does not mean they don’t deserve to go. The Greek system is always making the best of situations like this because they are so well organized. This isn’t a flaw, and it does not make them an evil group of people. In fact, I praise those organized enough to get together and make the best of any situation – teamwork is a wonderful thing.

I apologize to students who feel cheated, but remember that getting students out to the games and winning games should be every true fans’ No. 1 goal. Obviously, since this has become such a problem, in the future another method of sale will be implemented so everyone feels the tickets were sold in an acceptable manner. I hope the rest of the season is enjoyable and no one is turned off from attending the services SG provides, such as tailgates at home games and free bus transportation. I hope to see you all at the next game. Go Bulls!

Frank Kerney is a senior majoring in political science and is the director of Student Life and Development for USF Student Government.

Greeks unite, not divide, student body

Re: “Greeks, Aguiree not needed in SG,” by Jose Pizarro, Sept. 15.

In the middle of the ticket sale confusion, I would like to clear up an opinion previously stated by Jose Pizarro that may have been misunderstood as fact, in regards to Greek-lettered organizations

Opinion: “The thing the Greeks do best is divide and segregate students.”

Fact: Greek-lettered organizations, at least the Divine Nine of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), do not divide students. They create a sisterhood/brotherhood at the roots that later spread to the branches, although not as intimate … but there is unity. As stated on its Web site, NPHChq.org, NPHC’s purpose is “to promote unity and expose members to the ‘service for life’ philosophy and foster leadership development and scholarship.”

Before you continue to speak of Greeks in such a way, you must first consider, understand and familiarize yourself with the historical accounts and significance of the organizations.

I do understand your frustrations over the ticket sales, for some Greeks also were unable to purchase tickets. However, it would be greatly appreciated if you would refrain from creating excuses that blame Greeks in trying to justify Student Government’s lack of created/enforced rules for regulating the limitations of ticket sales per student. Face it – if Charlie Aquirre was a non-Greek, you still wouldn’t have a ticket!

Bernessa Hodor is a junior majoring in business management and vice president of the Kappa Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

Violence at work a concern for all

Re: “Workplace violence commonplace, speaker says,” by Jacob Tillman, Sept. 14.

In his article about how common workplace violence is, Jacob Tillman discusses how unsafe a person may be in his/her own job. This lecture was given by Paul Spector, who said, “About 5 percent of homicides that occur happen at work.”

This creates panic among those who thought their workplace was the safest in terms of violence. What Spector made very clear was the fact that violence doesn’t just mean being physically threatened, but also verbally and psychologically. People go to their jobs every day and it never crosses their minds that they might be in danger. But when they stop and think, many people go to work no matter what – they need to, even if their bosses are people with no heart or principles.

It has been proven that women especially are victims of abuse in their workplace, including sexual abuse, verbal abuse or simply exploitation by their bosses who think they have the same strength a man might have. The social awareness is weak, given that people do not speak; they keep all the violence to themselves. This is a huge mistake society commits because it does not allow for this problem to be resolved.

Another good point is the fact that the lack of respect between males and females is spreading more. This allows for more abuse to be committed and for people to be more ignorant of the situation around them. When people socially unite to fight this danger, the risk of being threatened at work will decrease and somehow justice might be able to intersect this issue and also help.

Zulma Torres is a Freshman majoring in premedical sciences.