If you’re a student, you’ve probably noticed the men and women in yellow standing guard at the entrances to every stairway of the student section during the most recent two games at Beaver Stadium. The Michigan game was somewhat of a circus for student ticket sales, and extra security from Landmark was brought in to control the overflow crowds. According to Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations Mark Bodenschatz, the extra security is here to stay for this season and seasons in the future.

When students exit their respective section to go to the bathroom or grab something from the concession stand, the security marks the ticket with a check mark and gives out a card corresponding to the section, allowing only one student to enter again with that card. This effectively closes the loophole that so many students have used for years — settle down into a seat and then take a ticket from someone nearby, leave the section, and come back with a waiting friend.

“When someone gets a seat we like to give them the space that they paid for,” Bodenshatz said. “When students come into sections that they weren’t given tickets for, it creates a problem.”

Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long to shut down the ticket passing. Guest tickets cost way more than face value after the $29 validation fee, and now non-students will be forced to pay Penn State Athletics instead of buying a cheaper ticket and sneaking in the student section.

I will miss being able to move around to different sections for games like tomorrow, though, when the student section is likely to have plenty of open seats.