The University of Massachusetts has a great marching band. They put on a great show for halftime, postgame and in the stands.

They’re so great, in fact, that due to the movement of the student section at McGuirk Alumni Stadium, it is mostly those who pay for tickets that get a good look at them.

As any student who has gone to either of the two football games this year has noticed, the student section, previously located on the home sideline, was flipped to the other side of the field, which is the away side.

Students who enter through the Big Y Student Entrance at McGuirk are currently directed to sit somewhere in sections 17-20, according to the UMass Athletics story promoting the change. The decision to move the seating is promoted as being a change that will move students closer to the field because it allows students a wider selection of seats near midfield.

The problem with that argument is that McGuirk is not very big, certainly not big enough to have any bad seats. Unfortunately, this also presents a number of other issues, which follow in no particular order:

1. The Sun. The student section is on the east sideline. The sun sets in the west. Sure, some kids may get a great view – great enough to make out Kyle Havens somewhere in the glare. However, most visible from the student section are the non-student sections located in the comfortable shade. This is a major issue if you are Irish.

2. It’s the away sideline. Putting the student section behind the opposition’s bench is a popular move at places like Louisiana State’s stadium, also known as “Death Valley.” UMass, however, has the students way too far away from the field to make a difference, and its fans don’t exactly make the same amount of noise as Tigers fans.

Also, being at the away sideline, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if a student were to sit next to a crowd of Holy Cross fans, or that silly four-piece pep band they sometimes send.

3. No one’s looking. Being the UMass band, it would only make sense for the UMMB to play the pregame show and virtually all of the halftime show facing the home crowd. So remember Minutefans, stand, clap and cheer as your UMass Marching Band that you fund with your tuition plays towards other people.

4. The bathroom’s further away.

5. Most of the seats in the student section were really good seats, if a little off-center. Someone’s parents are now sitting there.

In short, the location of the student section is on the less-desirable side of the stadium. Logistics, proximity to the midfield or non-student marketability do not matter as much. Students now have worse seats.

Now, it does make some sense to spread people throughout the stadium. There is less traffic on the stairs and around concessions. We do that call-and-answer “U … Mass” chant much better. It also better evenly spreads the exiting masses.

However nice it is to use the whole stadium, it shouldn’t be the students who are tossed to the crappy end of the stadium.

Where do the students sit at basketball and hockey games? Answer: the home side. Why? The home fans sit on the home side.

Is it the school putting the rabble on the other side of the stadium to appease the non-student fans (the parents and kids that pay for their tickets)? Maybe. It wouldn’t be without precedent, as hockey teams regularly lobby for students to be less vulgar at hockey games.

Though it would be nice to appease both sides, it doesn’t make sense to leave students out in the boonies.

Some students at Saturday’s game were understanding of the move. Others, like sophomore Billy Rainsford, think the move “sucks,” but understand that “they need to make room for non-students.”

Junior Jeremiah Driscoll vehemently disagrees and suggests that the person who made him sit there should do something that is not even close to publishable.

To be fair, students are able to get seats on the home sideline, as spillover begins to fill section 10 during the middle of the first quarter. In addition, due to general admission, they can look for a seat anywhere on that side.

The majority of seats meant for students on the home side, though, would remain empty with a smaller crowd, leading to a bigger issue.

The problem created by putting the student section on the away sideline is that the home fans are prevented from sitting by their own sideline.

There is no problem in catering to the non-student crowd. Ticket sales and endorsements from local companies (like the Official UMass Supermarket or whatever. So, do I get paid now?) are major components in how the athletic department should market each sport.

The lifeline of each UMass sport though, should and always will be student attendance. It’s the number one reason why the hockey team has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years.

If the school wants UMass students to show up and cheer like they do at hockey games, then it should give them the same seating as at hockey games: front row, home side, everyone else get out of the way.

Nick O’Malley is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].