To the editor:

I have been a strong proponent for priority seating at Allen Fieldhouse. I think a point system is fine, but it’s the fallout that comes from creating a commodity of the seating process that Kansas University should worry about.

I have given in the past when there wasn’t a point system. The act of giving for the love of something is enough motivation. When you put a dollar value on the ticket process you exchange an expectation of entitlement and ownership. These ownership rights involve the decision to miss games, the right to leave early, the right to complain. With these rights, you remove a certain element from the fieldhouse: passion, passion generated from local residents supporting the local team.

The Jayhawk nation is bigger than Lawrence, but the reality is local residents have easier access to games and have always stood by the team. They didn’t leave early to beat the traffic and they didn’t arrive late because of the weather. There were very few games with empty seats.

When you remove local business support and farm out services to East Coast friends, you remove the element of high touch service that cultivates local loyalty and create an adversarial relationship.

Kansas athletics is on the right track for raising money but they face the consequence of empty seats if we don’t win or, worse, the lack of passionate energetic support regardless of the outcome. KU and the community are in this together. Support each other.

Joe B. Jones,

Lawrence