Once upon a time, it was easy for students to get season tickets for Badger basketball. But, over the past few years, the popularity of Wisconsin basketball has skyrocketed dramatically as the team has won a share of three Big Ten titles. Times have quite obviously changed. The demand for season tickets by students has grossly outweighed the supply. It is for this reason that the recent calamity involving the ticket lottery is so problematic, merely serving to further frustrate the patience of students.

In an attempt to solve the problem caused by an overwhelming desire for tickets, the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department only made the problem worse through a lottery system that clearly failed. Rather than the lottery serving to make the process fairer, the result has been just the opposite.

Let us be clear: we commend the swift response by the Athletic Department to the missing 625 ballots and believe that their choice to involve the students, given the circumstances, was the only reasonable option. Paciolan Inc., the company used by the UW to help distribute the tickets, has agreed to pay for all of the student’s tickets due to the mistakes made, and we thank them for their generosity as well.

Regardless, it is quite apparent that there exists a more fundamental problem with the system of allocating the scarce tickets to the student body. This process needs a re-examination in order for it truly to be considered fair. There are many possible solutions, including increasing the total number of student seats or moving away from only offering a full season ticket option for all students. No matter the resolution, the responsibility lies in the hands of the UW Athletic Department to ensure the effective and equitable allocation of these prized tickets. Badger fans depend upon the officials’ ability to be up to task.