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Show Page 3 The Signpost Friday, September 2,2005 Stadium continuedfromfront but Gerrety and others have taken steps to increase the number of occupants. The stadium normally holds a maximum of 17,500 occupants, but a set of portable bleachers is being erected this year near the south end zone. The portable bleachers have a total occupancy of 600 people. Fans have already spoken for many seats in the stadium. So far this year, there are 4,388 season ticket holders. Last season, just over 3,000 season tickets were purchased. According to Gerrety, in addition to an increase in season ticket sales, all of the suites and club seats are a sellout for Saturdays game. Only 30 seats remain of Party Rwanda con Hnuedfrom front WSU junior studying political thus leaving their children science. "I'm friends with the parentless. These orphans bands so I was able to ask them are added to the 95,000 other for help." children who were orphaned by In addition to the music, a the end of the genocide in 1994. booth will be set up inside the club "The first project creates where Brandvold, Baca and others educational opportunities to will be distributing information children in orphanages," Haanstad about the genocide victims. said. "The pamphlets we give out The second project involves are linked with the charities in women of Rwanda who have Rwanda we are working with, turned to prostitution after the so that people can donate," economic collapse caused by Brandvold said. the genocide. According to Haanstad, the "For many of them, resorting money raised by the benefit to prostitution is an act of will fund two different projects desperation to provide for their in Rwanda. The first deals children," Haanstad said. "We with children's education. want to give prostitutes an An estimated 75 percent of opportunity to get off the streets genocide widows in Rwanda are and into some sort of legitimate now infected with HIV as a result work opportunity." of rape. Because many of the According to Haanstad, widows have been left destitute, about 15 students take part in most succumb to their illness, the Amnesty International at McBride added that his previous team was not the best team in the conference but they had a loyal fan base. "We filled the stadium every time we played, people came in on Friday and left on Sunday," he said. While the odds of WSU fans staying at the stadium from Friday to Sunday may be minute, Gerrety and others expect a good turnout. To help with parking and traffic problems the game may cause, Gerrety encourages fans to park at the Dee Events Center and ride the free shuttle bus to the stadium. we want the biggest crowd'" like Hunter, head coach Ron McBride knows what it is like to play football before a big crowd. When he coached at University of Kentucky, he experienced the sell-out stadiums of the Southeastern Conference. "There are certain places in the country where you really feed off the fans because they are so excited and emotional about what you're doing and you can feel them the whole game, that's pretty exciting," McBride said. "In the SEC, you felt that every weekend wherever you went to play, whether that be Georgia, Kentucky or Tennessee." the 756 chair-back seats in section D of the stadium. Gerrety said he thinks more seats are going to sell. ... "I think there is definitely a possibility for us," he said. "If I were to guess, we are going to be between 15,000 and 20,000." Gerrety believes that the combined efforts of many have feiQed the recent ticket success. "There have been so many people who have helped give us a chance to have this huge crowd on Saturday" Gerrety said. 'Its something we've been spreading the word on but there have been so many people who have stepped up and said, 'Hey, we want to help, how can we help, we want this, You can reach reporter Jason Statey by calling 626-76/4. continued from front "The parade will be exciting because the new WSU football uniforms will be unveiled," Nicholas said. Greg Simpson is giving a concert at 7:30 p.m. in the lower quad, which is the area west of the Social Science Building. Simpson is a member of the country band "SheDaisy," and plays a variety of music, including Christian rock, folk and country. Simpson says he plans to cover many familiar songs and mix in some original songs of his own. "It'll be a retro-classic rock show," Simpson said. There will be a dance after Simpson's performance and a showing of the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" at 10 p.m. by the duck pond. According to Nicholas, most You can reach reporter Blair Dee of the activities are free to Hodges by calling 626-76 74. WSU meetings, which take place every other Wednesday in Social Science Building Room 235. "It'sagrassrootsorganization," said Haanstad, who was involved with Amnesty International before she came to WSU. "All the investigations, reports and writings are done by citizen groups. And of course, student groups are a big part of that." Pari Fahim, a WSU senior studying political science, got involved with Amnesty International last year when Haanstad introduced her to it. "I think on the whole, Americans and the student populace are uneducated or unaware of genocide, and we want to trigger awareness and hopefully action," Fahim said. Ul'.lLl'-'V-'*', ' Wff students, but she said students will need their Wildcat card to get free food at the barbecue and may need it for other activities. "Our goal in doing this is to tie WSU students to the campus and the community," Nicholas said. Members of Nicholas' planning committee hope over 1,000 people will attend and plan to make this an evergrowing, annual event. Avi Smith, the clubs and organizations coordinator for the block party, called the party an opportunity. "This will set the tone for therest of the year," Smith said. "If you're willing to come out and get involved thefirstweek, this is going to make the rest of your year." You can reach reporter Katryna Prater by calling 626-7614. '" ;>tf^>'"'4 - • - - " ^ ^ ^ "" / &£' "/At, \ 't • - •'/••~v • j i' \- - - \{ \. ' • i f \ ' i s. .^- u • ; * • • ' ' : J & rs !)U-.- :v'^ / • J • f / fcr-*^5 --a- ? V ^r\.*"" - ' 1 I -- 1 •>qVi '£.-. / tit' UTA t -I- • --• . - - ^y 1H i. / , i > , i i |