After reading the Thursday editorial (in print, “Ticket sales for athletics lacks rationale”; and online, “ISU athletics should consider students in deciding new policies”) on the new policies being implemented for student tickets, I was a little taken back. The Editorial Board ignored many of the facts at hand and showed little knowledge of the subject. The new changes are only set out to protect and enhance the Cyclone Alley experience.

With less than a 40 percent redemption rate of student tickets and more than an 80 percent redemption rate by the general public, Cyclone Alley was becoming obsolete. Many large-name universities are choosing to shrink the student section at basketball games because students aren’t showing up; this is the case at schools like Duke and Wisconsin. Students need to understand that if the student section gets shrunk, they will never see those seats again; that is the nature of the reality we live in. I do not think any logical person can expect the athletic department to hold empty seats for students when the rest of the building is full.

The athletic department consulted students in its decision, and this was the best possible outcome that it could come to. I think any student can agree that overselling the student body by 20 to 40 percent is a far better idea than shrinking the student section. If the athletics department had oversold the student section last year by 40 percent, not a single student would have been turned away all year. Let’s be honest with each other as students, the diehards will be there waiting to get in and will get in, while those students who don’t care as much and show up 10 minutes late, well, there may be a game or two they don’t get into.

The decision by the athletic department makes economic sense, and it also makes sense from a student perspective, at least one who wants to see Cyclone Alley and Hilton Magic remain relevant for years to come.