Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Despite the addition of the Booth Family Hall of Athletics, Allen Fieldhouse seems a little emptier than in years previous. Fewer students have opted to camp out for basketball games, and this depletion has left many to wonder why.

There were only three groups at the lottery on Sunday, Jan. 22 for the Texas Tech game on Monday, Jan. 30. Camping was then suspended until Thursday morning at 6 a.m. There were 16 groups signed up by then, but seven of them missed the roll call that morning and were crossed off the list.

Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony said that exams and vacations usually result in fewer campers. The next couple weeks, Marchiony said, will be a better indicator of attendance.

Adam Lohoefener, Oberlin graduate student, has been administering the camping lottery, which is held the morning after each home game, for the past four years.

“Christmas break always brings the camping numbers down,” Lohoefener said. There were normally only two groups that would show up to lotteries over break, he said, and sometimes only one.

“The bigger games, like Kentucky, had a good turnout even though it was over break.” He added that it also has a lot to do with how the games are scheduled and the amount of “high profile” teams. The fewer number of days there are in between games, the more groups that tend to show up to lottery because it is easier to hold a spot for a couple days rather than a full week. Not only was Kentucky ranked when the Jayhawks played them, but the camp out period was only two days. Last year there were around 1,250 campers at the lottery for the Missouri game. While the Border Showdown usually packs the Fieldhouse anyway, there was only one day of camping prior to it. Lohoefener expects numbers to increase within the next few weeks becomes of in-conference games.

“It kind of always seems that Big Twelve play draws bigger crowds. Not as many go to games at the beginning of the season when it seems like there is only about one home game a week. When Big Twelve starts games get closer together,” he said.

While the depletion of campers has caught the eye of many, those who are sticking it out have been scrutinized for their lengthy suspensions in camping. Camping is always suspended to accommodate women’s home games and men’s away games, but other times it will be postponed for long periods in between home games. Because the camping system has no written rules, and only an outline of them, students use a majority vote amongst groups present on how long they want to camp for certain games, when they want to suspend, etc. While there are nine days in between the Nebraska and Texas Tech games, the three groups at the Texas Tech lottery voted on camping for five of them, Thursday through Monday.

“The great thing about our system is that the only people who have a say in how long we camp are those doing the actual camping. It doesn’t get more democratic than that,” Lohoefener said. “If people want to camp, come to lottery. If they don’t want as many suspensions then come to lottery and vote on it. It’s funny that every year it seems the people who complain are the people who aren’t camping.”