Students face limited pep rally tickets; parade might be held

Students returned from winter break this week with Rose Bowl memorabilia and enthusiasm for their national championship football team, but some are now upset that they may not be able to celebrate at Sunday's pep rally at Crisler Arena.

However, they may be able to celebrate the victory on the streets of Ann Arbor if the University goes ahead with plans for a parade.

Due to limited seating at Crisler, rally ticket recipients were chosen by a lottery of the 66,000 football season ticket holders. Season ticket holders can check a University Website this week to see if they are one of 7,000 students and 750 faculty and staff who received a ticket to the rally.

EMILY NATHAN/Daily Business senior Eric Sealov shops at Michigan Book & Supply yesterday to show his Wolverine spirit.

"There's no way to distribute tickets other than by way of lottery," said Senior Associate Athletic Director Keith Molin.

Adding these numbers to the 400-member band, the 160-member football team, the coaches and the Athletic Department staff, the 13,000 seats in the stadium will be full, Molin said.

It's possible a parade might precede the pep rally, said Senior Associate Athletic Director Fritz Seyferth.

"We're trying to see if we could get it all worked out," Seyferth said yesterday. "We have to see if it is even feasible, and we need to move quickly. We hope to know by noon tomorrow."

Tickets will be distributed today and tomorrow at Cliff Keen Arena on State and Hoover streets. Unclaimed tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to season ticket holders at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Cliff Keen.

Many students who did not get a ticket in the lottery are upset at how the distribution was handled.

"How ridiculous is it that everything else is based on seniority? I've always been one of the first at everything ... at the games and waiting in line to buy tickets," said Jeff Holzhausen, known as "Super Fan."

A student who has attended the University for six years should be given priority over a first-year student, said Holzhausen, a Public Health second-year graduate student.

Some students said the Athletic Department should have made logistical arrangements to ensure that every student could attend the rally.

"We are students at the school and how can we support our school if we can't go to the rally? Every student has a right to go to the pep rally," said Avhishek Narain, an SNRE first-year student.

For those unable to attend the rally, the event will be televised live from 7-8 p.m. on Channel 7, and will be broadcasted live on Detroit's WJR radio station.

To find out whether you have a ticket to attend the rally, visit http://www.umich.edu/~mgoblue/peprally.

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