When the Hornets took the field Saturday against Cal Poly, they did so in front of a crowd of 16,557?many of which were students admitted via ticket, much to the delight of Sac State ticket manager David Gull.

“We’re at a level where we are ?big time?,” said Gull of the revamped ticket policy. “We need to step up and join the rest of the nation. Name another college that doesn’t have a ticket system.”

Following last season’s resurgent football campaign, Gull and his colleagues realized that a change in the ticket policy was in order.

Intercollegiate success goes hand-in-hand with larger crowds and with a ticket system in place, the ticket office could monitor the rate at which students are packing the aisles of Hornet Stadium or Memorial Auditorium, where the men play basketball.

“We’re expecting more and more people to start attending,” Gull said. “In the past we just didn’t know how many students were coming. This way we know.”

The past Gull is referring to is the OneCard system, where students flashed their student identification to those manning the front gates. The new ticket system will be operated under the same guidelines as the improved version: students will be granted free admittance.

Freshman Jillian Lawson isn’t impressed by the new system and questions its purpose. “I don’t like it,” Lawson said. “Why do they have to make things so complicated?”

Brian Costa, a business major, echoed the same sentiments. “They think it will help attendance but it seems like too much of a chore. Students would prefer to use their OneCard over the ticket,” said Costa. “Not to mention the lines that will be involved.”

Gull acknowledges that the transition from one method to another might be rough but points out that the new system isn’t all too foreign to this campus – just this student body.

Before the OneCard system was implemented, Sac State operated according to a ticket policy similar to the one that took effect Saturday when the

Hornets clashed with Cal Poly. But according to Gull, that was many years ago.

“It’s not new to Sac State, it’s just new to the student body,” Gull said. “They used to have the ticket system but changed because of attendance. That was before I was here.”

“It will be a learning process these first couple of football games,” Gull said.

Freshman Hornet fan Steven Mota welcomes the ticket system with open arms but stands opposed to the lines that may evolve from it.

“It’s a good and bad thing,” Mota said. “It’s good because people will know whether you are a student or not. But, it’s gonna be bad if you miss the game because you’re standing in line.”

If Gull can avoid lengthy lines at the front gates, he may just get what he hopes for this year – raucous capacity crowds of 20,000 people, many of which will be students admitted via ticket.

Tickets can be picked up at the Central Ticket Office located in the University Union or on game days at Hornet Stadium’s Gate Four.