Number 466

"They should have done this by class priority," argued Delos Flint '78, despite the sidelong glances underclassmen cast in his direction. "Even as a freshman you'd know that you would be first as a senior." Such logic notwithstanding, tickets for the 1978 Winter Carnival concerts and plays were still being sold on a "first come, first served" basis. So Flint and his schoolmates, some of whom had been waiting outside the Hopkins Center since 11 o'clock the previous evening, thronged into the Hop to line up outside Spaulding Auditorium, the site of the ticket sale. By 4:30 in the afternoon, two and a half hours before the beginning of the sale, the line curled past Spaulding to the Hinman Post Office and on down the corridor to the very front entrance of the Hop. Squatters dug in for a long wait.

School books (the sale had been unpropitiously scheduled for mid-term week) and fast food wrappers lined the corridor as students tried to make constructive use of the time. "How does it feel to be the last in line?" we asked one young man, who had just been informed that he was in 466th place. "Not real great," he replied, "but it's better than last year." In the past the ticket sales have been held on Sunday morning in Webster Hall, prompting many to spend the entire night outside in the cold. For last year's sale one resourceful '79 even moved his bed from Wheeler Hall to his spot in the line.

Another past aggravation was the unlimited number of tickets which an individual could buy, which meant many new friendships for the person at the head of the line and gnashed teeth for the tail-enders. The current allotment is two tickets to each event per student. "I think this is a much better system," said number 375 as he peered over a magazine. "It was pretty annoying to see some guy go up and buy 110 tickets for his fraternity."

It was "The Greatest Snow on Earth," witha giant clown presiding over Carnival.