It’s been more than a week. Now it’s time to pull off the scabs and see who bleeds black and red. Dishonesty, while not a value to be publicly endorsed, was vividly apparent in the actions of our Athletic Department two weeks ago. Associate Athletic Director Steve Schnall dug himself a hole when he said “about 1,300 students received tickets” and that “cutting was minimal,” for the SDSU vs. BYU ticket distribution.

Well Schnall, chew on this. I was 500th in line on Wednesday night but 750th the following night. Being 750th in line would still leave 1,100 tickets or 550 students according to your ticket report. Needless to say, I didn’t get a ticket.

I think we can all agree that cutting wasn’t minimal. Some 250 line-jackers from Wednesday to Thursday night alone isn’t minimal. Another possibility is that considerably less than 1,300 students received tickets to the game. An alternative possibility to the claim that some 550 students cut in line Friday morning is that a number of tickets were pulled to give to special organizations, faculty or simply for sale … and no one cared to tell the students camped out that their chances had been “cut.” If 1,300 students really got tickets, there was some massive cutting. If tickets were pulled then it was grossly unethical to lie to the students about that information. Pick your poison.

As last week’s events unfolded, it became painfully obvious that faithful students played second fiddle at best to the glitter of national media. As long as the nation sees San Diego State handing out free pizza to students, it doesn’t matter who gets tickets or how. It’s amazing the administration still felt it had the credibility to urge the student section to represent SDSU in a respectful manner. Not to mention the irresponsible way the ticket distribution was handled allowed dishonest and disrespectable fans into Viejas Arena.

In many ways, the students at the game represented the administration very well. The trashing of our court by our own students on national TV was a fantastic parallel to the Athletic Department’s insolent neglect to sufficiently police the ticket distribution line.

Let’s stop entertaining the counter argument that the administration didn’t anticipate student interest or had never experienced this before. We saw it coming as early as the win in Gonzaga, or even when we were ranked for the first time in school history at the beginning of the season. So why is it so hard to do a little research? Duke’s infamous “Krzyzewskiville” has been a prime example of how to deal with this situation for years. Managing a line is not a new concept. No more excuses and no more apologies, just get it done.

For their own sanity and self-esteem, students need to assume the administration has “learned from the experience” and will make and effort to control ticket distribution in the future. But is that just another lie? When I went to the ticket office the morning of Feb. 28, I was surprised to see a sign that read “student tickets sold out.” I learned from an Elite Security guard that instead of holding another line, wristbands were distributed to students simply because it was raining.

I’d already sat through the cold. To say I was upset would be an understatement. I e-mailed Associated Student Executive Vice President Sean Kashanchi was told that the pick-up time was changed to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and that the last wristband was distributed at 8 p.m. I was also told they had made it known through the local media. E-mails should have been sent to all students like the last time ticket pick up dates were changed. We’re all adults at a university here. Remember that a little intelligence and foresight can go a long way.

So, in essence, many of the same people who cut the line, got tickets to the BYU game and threw crap on our court were also able to get tickets to the Colorado State game with little to no effort. Wow. Such a hard-core fail makes me feel better about my physics tests.

I may not be able to predict the future, but I learned a good deal about foreshadowing while reading “Lord of the Flies” in high school. The vacuum of authority or policing let the line fall into anarchy, and at the end of the game, cutters and disrespectful fans lobbed trash onto our court, drowning out any remaining trace of reason in this tribal national media dance.

If the chaotic ticket distributions for the BYU and Colorado State games are any indication of the future, the administration is not going to make any effective changes to the program. I think we can all hope our Athletic Department will choose to rise to the occasion instead.

It’s ticket distribution, guys. Figure out how to organize a bunch of people in line to watch a game.

—Jacob Clark is a biology and Spanish junior.

—The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.