2,000 Students Battle For Yale Meet Tickets

More than 2000 students yesterday morning fought to buy tickets for Saturday's Yale swimming meet, but most were left frustrated when the window closed at noon after selling only a few hundred tickets.

Although Frank O. Lunden, Ticket Manager, said he had "no way of knowing" how many tickets were made available to Harvard undergraduates, informed sources said that only 300 were sold--100 of them standing room only--while 400 were assigned to Yale.

Many of the students who sought tickets complained bitterly of hours of fruit-less waiting.

The hardiest swim enthusiasts got in line before 7 a.m., but most students joined the crowd at about 8:30, and stood patiently for over an hour while a single ticket window waited on one customer per minute. Average progress in the line was about 75 feet during the first hour, though one sophomore boasted of advancing 100.

But after 10 a.m., the character of the crowd began to change. Irritated by constant line crashing, the cold, and rumors that tickets were getting scarce, students started to resist the numerous cutting-in attempts. Shortly before 11 a.m. an enterprising group used a few old CRIMSON'S and some loose wood to start a fire in the street, which promptly sent a column of smoke into the crowd.

Several people ran from the line when two cars drove directly over the fire, and near-panic gripped parts of the crowd. By 11 a.m., the group thinned to about 300 restless students, who pressed against the door of the Athletic Department building, many using sharp elbows with devastating effectiveness.

James G. Leaf '63, who spent three hours waiting without getting a ticket, commented that "sheer weight and size were the only qualifications needed for a ticket."

Ticket Manager Lunden apparently felt little sympathy for the students, though many gave up valuable class time in the effort to secure seats. "We did not ask them to come around," he remarked.

Department Unprepared

The major student complaint centered around the fact that the Athletic Department took no steps to provide for a big turnout. Donald M. Felt '49, Assistant Director of Athletics, remarked that the Department was guided only by past experience and had not anticipated unusual difficulties.

Felt also reported that the Department is investigating the possibility of a closed television circuit into Sanders Theater, to give more students a chance to see the popular meet. The LAB pool holds only 1600.