<p>I talked to my son last night for quite awhile about this situation. He got there about 2 hours prior and joined the line where a group of 7 friends were holding him a place. When they opened the gate, he says they were so crushed that you could have been critically injured. He was crushed against the fence. He is 6' tall 200 lbs and he was lucky not to get bruised, but he said some of the smaller girls were getting hurt. He never experianced anything like this and is very angry about the situation.
When he got in and saw the new? "Trojan Nation" area where the students were now sitting, well, they added insult to injury. The students were now squashed into absolutely terrible seats. I know the freshman now did not experiance last year's football and never had the chance to experiance what my son had last year, and this is a real shame. The students are the backbone supporters of the team. They go to class with the players and deserve better than they have been given. Where the seats are now are horrible, he says. The old good student seats are now sold to Alumni for 25,000. My son looked longingly at the old student area and saw (his words) "senior" alumni clapping politely at a touchdown and leaving after halftime, when before, the students scream and yell during the entire game with their spirit, now they cannot be heard.<br>
As far as the numbers that attend the games, my son thinks the students are being lied to. He says even the extra 600 seats will not be enough. Last year the students were allowed to bring a guest with then. Now they raised the price of the card, no guest, (translate, more $$, more seats sold ) AND the old good seats are being sold (again more $$) Also, the capped the limit of student activities card sold. How terrible is that? If a student wants to support their school, how can they limit this just to make money. Oh, and I am sure tuition the students pay will not go down anyway with the $$.made. </p>
<p>End comment - of course the safety issue will be addressed. I am confident future games will be well organized, especially since the next is parents weekend, and USC always puts the best foot forward here. But the issue of putting the students in crappy seats and limiting their attendance? This too should change.</p>