A committee is considering the options for reducing the prices of student tickets for Hopkins Center and athletic events at some point in the coming year.
Committee chair and Associate Director of Financial Services Bonnie Norton said the committee has been using this term to weigh the options for reducing prices and will make a recommendation to the College's senior administration by the end of August about whether to reduce the prices.
However, Norton would not comment on the committee's findings or considerations, because she said she does not want any of her comments to affect the committee's procedure.
"I would think that after our next meeting we would be very close to finalizing our recommendations," she said.
The committee members are Jackie Lippe '01, Deirdre Brenner '01, Kathryn Beane '01, graduate student Andrew Whitney, Norton, Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia, Business Manager of Athletics Ken Snelling, Executive Director of the Montgomery Endowment Barbara Gerstner, Hopkins Center Business Officer Jay Cary and Richard Heck, executive officer in the Dean of the College Office.
In establishing a contract in which the College would exclusively use its products in dining halls and vending machines, the Coca-Cola company agreed to provide the College with a $200,000 commission for the first two years of the contract, to be adjusted in the third year. This would mean an $80,000 revenue increase.
In a previous interview with The Dartmouth, College Vice President and Treasurer Win Johnson said where the revenue will go was undecided, but said the College was seriously investigating lowering or eliminating athletic or Hopkins Center ticket prices for students as well as reducing student fines. He said the administration was very interested in reducing ticket prices.
In a BlitzMail message sent to The Dartmouth on Monday, Johnson said he would not comment on the issue until the committee studying ticket prices makes its report, other than writing, "I'm hopeful that changes can be made that will make events more accessible for students."
Student Assembly Summer President Jorge Miranda '01 said former Assembly President Josh Green '00 and former Vice President Case Dorkey '99 were involved with advocating student involvement in the soda negotiations, and the new President Dean Krishna '01 and Vice President Margaret Kuecker '01 completed the Assembly's involvement in the process.
He said the Assembly advocated using the money provided by Coca-Cola to reduce the ticket prices.
Although Norton said she would not comment about whether prices would be reduced, Miranda said when the process first began, "the impression I got was that the ticket prices were going to be reduced, and it was just a matter of how much and in what way."
He said reduced prices would particularly be helpful for students who are on financial aid and added he thinks more students would attend Hopkins Center and athletic events if the prices were lower.
