Assembling a loud crowd at the Hall

Student-led chant offensive, disrespectful\nBy Grace Low\n"Stand up, old people": a moment of spontaneous idiocy that will live on in infamy long after the choice seats return to the enthusiastic bottoms of students. It's obvious there are some major frustrations between the students and the alumni at basketball games. \nBut being offensively ageist in a moment of sports ecstasy is not the way to handle such animosity. As the old adage goes, two wrongs do not make a right, so though the athletic department's decision to revoke students' access to the best seats was stupid, responding offensively does nothing but add fuel to the tensions. \nIf you want the intimidation factor back in the hands of the "young'uns" then you must realize that those "old people" you're hassling are the people who control the choice to do so and will react to student chants accordingly. Perhaps letters and petitions or a concerted effort to get to games on time (an issue that apparently irks the alumni) could show that the student fans are serious about their love of the game. Love your team, but do it with respect.\nWon game is the most important issue\nBy Kirk Nathanson \nWednesday night: Suffering from crippling levels of individuality, 17,000 intoxicated fans together don their cream and crimson and storm Assembly Hall like the Soviets pushing into Berlin. The roar of the crowd swells to crescendo as the last foam fingered fan finds his seat.\nFor the time being, student and alumni are united against the common enemy: Purdue. But the enemy is weak and was easily vanquished. Against whom, then, shall the undergrads -- full of Kamchatka, Powerade and adrenalin -- turn? \nSure, the pep band is painfully annoying, but even a rioting mob is scared of a tuba to the face. Alumni, on the other hand, are slow and medicated. Thus, a schism erupted amongst Hoosiers fans that dwarfed Martin Luther's Reformation. \nOn one side are the alumni, who are too old to play and too dotty to attempt a come-back cheer. On the other the students, who were never good enough to play and pretend that what they did actually helped the team. In the middle is the basketball team laughing at all of you.\nThey won. Isn't that enough?\nCheer could have been worse\nBy Abby Schwimmer\n "Stand up, old people!" "Arise, oh aged ones!" \nNo matter how you phrase it, the students' chant at last Wednesday's basketball game was somewhat politically incorrect. Still, while the cheer was arguably tactless, the alumni who were offended need to remember that school spirit is the most important part of an IU basketball game, even more important than whether the Hoosiers win or lose. Not that we mind winning.\nRather than blatant disrespect, the incident was evidence of an underlying tension between students and alums. In the past, students have griped about their elders' lack of enthusiasm -- interesting considering that the seats behind the north basket are reserved for nonstudents. During the heat of the game, the hope is that players feed off the crowd's enthusiasm. And having supporters cheer their hearts out, decked out in cream and crimson, madly waving their giant foam fingers, is a big morale booster. \nThis episode indicated a need for change in the seating setup at Assembly Hall. Last week's demonstration could have been much worse. Student discontent did not manifest itself in a riot, mutiny, stampede or the assassination of any Austrian archdukes. Instead, it simply led to the vocalization of student grievances that made it clear that IU needs to change the seating for basketball games.\nAt the very least, require each alum to purchase and wear a giant foam finger. Even if a portion of the alumni crowd remains seated, remember that a little enthusiasm goes a long way.