Mr. Greenspan, stop shafting the students

No sports tradition is more revered in this country than the link between the people of Indiana and basketball. Everyone associates the state with the sport, regardless of where you go or who you talk to. I'm not a native Hoosier. I grew up on the sun-soaked beaches of Southern California, but even from 2,090 miles away I was drawn to the mystique surrounding the Hoosier state and its obsession with roundball. As a 6-foot-2-inch, comically un-athletic shooting guard, Indiana basketball was something I looked at with hope for most of my high school years.\nWhen my academic career landed me in Bloomington in August 2003, I immediately signed up for basketball tickets. I pictured an experience much like walking into Fenway Park for the first time. I expected to be inspired and awed. I expected to get chills. What I got was disappointment. What I got was Assembly Hall.\nTo put it plainly, the atmosphere in Assembly Hall rivals that of a mausoleum. I don't know if it's the lack of energy, the bad lighting or the large collection of people who look like they died three years ago, but something about it reminds me of a tomb.\nWhat's worse is that the people who cheer the loudest are often the farthest from the floor and therefore have the least influence on the game. \nWe've all seen it. During a great rally, all the students will be standing and cheering while the older fans, who take up the best seats right on center court, have their rear ends stapled to their seats. Like Adam Ahlfeld, there's no hope of ever getting them up and involved in the game. \nSo I'm posing this question to IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan: If a large portion of the crowd is slightly less enthusiastic than a collection of zombies, why do they get the best seats in the house? After all, we have been told by this same athletics department that "crowds help win games." \nThe problem with Assembly Hall is that there is no real home court advantage because there is no real student section.\nDuke has the "Cameron Crazies," Michigan State has the "Izzone," Illinois has its "Orange Krush" and Indiana needs to follow suit. A great student section makes it much more difficult for visiting teams to execute while at the same time it energizes the home team that much more. IU needs a rowdy collection of students with coordinated cheers, painted faces and the energy to scream for an entire game.\nWhy not just put all of the students together on one side of the court behind the benches? That way, the students would be allowed to cheer together and not interfere with the tea party atmosphere the elderly Hoosier fans seem to love so much.\nMr. Greenspan, you've done some wonderful things for this school so far. You've revitalized a dying football program and added an amazing scoreboard to Assembly Hall. You are clearly trying to put your stamp on IU Athletics. Wouldn't a permanent student section be a great way to continue that progress?