To the Editor:
In regards to the editorial on overspending on events for college students, (The Dartmouth, Aug. 21, "Overfunded, Underattended"): one area that it didn't address is the events that take place at the Hopkins Center. Specifically, I am referring to the large difference in the cost of a ticket for a college student versus the general public. I am a member of the general public and I get irritated when the Hop event calendar comes out for the season. Now I know there should be a discount for students, however only charging them $5 to get in when the price to the public is $17, $22, $26 and $50 suggests to me that the gap is too large. Whether the Hopkins Center and Dartmouth College have an obligation to provide low cost admission to events for the general public, I don't know. Good performers and national touring acts visit the campus, so I'm not saying that the quality of the performance is not worth the cost of admission. Knowing that it is going to cost $80 for you and your spouse to see Wynton Marsalis, and that the couple sitting in front of you only paid $10 does seem a little unfair. Or the event that was mentioned -- Los Fakires -- cost $22 for the public versus $5 for students. Some could say we should be lucky to live next to an institution that has the means to attract national acts and recording artists, instead of having to travel to Boston or New York to see them, but why pass off the cost to just one segment of the audience?
