Issue date: 12/13/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Eryk Salvaggio Monday evening more than 100 students lined up outside of the Wade Center for Quebec trip tickets.

Anyone passing through the Union on Monday night was greeted by a throng of more than 100 students waiting in line for tickets to the Quebec trip, but compared to past years, tickets sold at a slower pace, with almost half still available as of Tuesday.

The annual trip, sponsored by Residents on Campus (ROC), sold around 130 tickets.

"We turned away between fifty and a hundred people last year and those were just people in line, not counting the people who saw the line and decided to leave," Matt Nichols, ROC vice president of Financial Affairs said.

Sean O'Mara, ROC vice president of programming, expected to sell all of the 250 available tickets on Monday, "though we sold quite a few, we still have a lot of tickets left, which was surprising."

Almost none of the international students signed up, due to new laws requiring them to obtain a Canadian visa. They are typically one of the largest groups to sign up for the trip, according to O'Mara.

He also attributed the low ticket sales to the First Year Residential Experience isolating first-years so they did not hear about the trip from upperclassmen. O'Mara also cited the strong Canadian dollar, confusion on passport laws and ROC's inability to promote the event on all of the folders on FirstClass for diminished interest.

O'Mara does not believe the low turnout will cause any problems. "There is no danger of canceling the trip for lack of interest. We have almost three buses filled, so that is certainly enough to merit continuing the trip," he said.

The trip provides students with the opportunity to visit Quebec for the weekend of Friday, Feb. 8 through Sunday, Feb. 10 during Quebec's Winter Carnival. The weekend falls on the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec.

Winter Carnival-the largest in the world, according to its official Web site-is host to attractions such as an ice palace, an ice sculpture contest, toboggan rides and sled races.

Four students are assigned to each hotel room and students are allowed to select roommates. Usually five buses take the students to Quebec and back but ROC may cancel a bus if tickets remain unsold, according to O'Mara.

Continued...

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