Should upperclassmen be given seniority?

• Yes
• No

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Snoball, one of the most popular dances for Stillwater students, took place on Jan. 20, with tickets sold out well before then. The dance was held at the JX Event Center, where the maximum capacity is 720 people, meaning tickets were limited to under one third of the student body. Because of this, some juniors and seniors were not able to attend, with freshmen and sophomores filling their places. For some, the limited number of tickets has created frustration.

With the freshman added this year, many school events are more prone to selling out faster because the places they are held in cannot accommodate the growing numbers. When seats and tickets sell fast, juniors and seniors have a slimmer chance of attending events during their last years of high school. Tickets in the Activities Center sell out a lot faster for events such as band, orchestra and choir concerts with more students now in the building.

Some events make more sense for juniors and seniors to attend, specifically sporting events that require students to drive to a stadium. The front row at games and pep rallies should also be reserved for seniors, who have waited their turn to sit there and typically cheer the loudest. But with the increase of younger Pony fans this year, keeping tickets available to everyone ensures that stands will fill.

Freshmen and sophomores are a big part of the high school, so they should not be excluded from all events. It should be a priority, though, for juniors and seniors to get to attend big dances, concerts, and sporting events throughout their last two years. Some juniors and seniors have suggested an “upperclassmen priority system” due to their limited time left to attend functions at the high school, where underclassmen have many more years to attend. In time, freshmen and sophomores will become juniors and seniors and will have the same privileges that the juniors and seniors ask for now.

If tickets for high demand events were available to juniors and seniors the a day earlier, upperclassmen who wanted a ticket could buy one. The following day the remaining tickets would be available to everyone. However, with the 9-12 community philosophy, that would not be inclusive to everyone.

A statement from Student Council says, “In our opinion, that [upperclassmen priority system] encourages class divide and that is a moral violation of what our mission statement discusses.”

Upperclassmen may just have to get into the habit of buying tickets as soon as possible to avoid losing out on a spot to an event, as opposed to waiting a couple of days until finally purchasing their ticket.