After finally making it out to my first men's basketball game this Wednesday against Iowa, I was surprised to see the lack of support in the stands. It was a great game where we gained back the lead in the very last minute and won with a one-point lead at the buzzer.

Admission to basketball games is not expensive. In fact, for Wednesday's game, admission was free to anyone wearing Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon apparel.

This year's "Target Ten" Challenge, a partnership between Penn State basketball and Thon 2008, failed miserably with a lack of support as well.

I was hoping to see a mixture of blue and white shirts among the multitude of brightly colored Thon T-shirts that filled the BJC for 46 hours this past weekend.

But that was not the case, even with free admission and "Target Ten," where if the student attendance were to reach 10,000 at the Ohio State game, all proceeds from the Michigan State game would go to Thon.

What does it take to get students to come out to basketball games, if free admission and promises to donate proceeds to benefit the Thon cause are not working?

Meredith Orlan

sophomore-sociology