General admission tickets for concerts should be regulated

First, I would like to congratulate the University Program Board (UPB) on selling out this year's homecoming concert.  This was the first homecoming concert to sell out during my four years at SRU.  

Selling over 1,200 tickets can be a difficult task with the small population of Slippery Rock and the surrounding area, even when the concert tickets are heavily subsidized by the student general service fee. 

As a graduate student this semester, I paid $196.56 for the general service fee. However, I was unable to buy a ticket due to the sellout.

I was not overly excited to see Sean Kingston, but reduced price tickets are hard to pass up. 

My question is, should non-students who do not pay almost $400 a year in a general service fee have the opportunity to buy reduced tickets at only $10?  Ten dollars is a steal for the general public, who would have to pay $58.75 for Sean Kingston's next concert November 26 at the IP Casino Resort in Mississippi.  

I feel the process is flawed and not putting the students of SRU first with only a $5 increase for non-SRU students. 

However, this is not the first time non-SRU students had the opportunity to buy reduced price tickets that sold out quickly. 

This same process was used with the Wiz Khalifa concert last semester. 

Non-SRU students were able to buy cheap tickets for only $10 more than students.  In order to protect the best interest of the students who pay to have concerts at SRU, I would suggest having a delayed release of general admission tickets. 

After a week of ticket sales, UPB would have a better understanding of the popularity of the concert and would then be able to release general admission tickets only if needed. 

This practice was seen with the Maya Anglo lecture, and made sure student money is being spent wisely. 

At Penn State University, the regular tickets are 250 percent more than the student tickets.  For a Jeff Dunham performance, general admission tickets cost $50 while students tickets are reduced to only $20. 

I would like to praise the university advancement office, who puts out the annual SRU Performing Arts Series, for placing high priority on SRU students even when they are not directly funded from my general service fee.

The regular admission season pass for the performing arts series is 271 percent more than reduced student tickets.

Students need to be an advocate for proper management of their student fees. We need to make sure that the Student Government Association and UPB know how SRU students want their money to be used.  Be sure to contact a representative from SGA with a simple email and together we can push for better policies for SRU students.