As the official SGA Trip Coordinators for the 2005-2006 academic school year, and therefore the coordinators of Dayton to Daytona 2006, we would like to address some of the recent commentary we've heard concerning how sign-ups were handled this year.

First and foremost, we would like to thank everyone who came out to sign-ups this year, as well as those who have since registered. This has been the largest first day and first week in Dayton to Daytona history. We would also like to thank Flyer News for their coverage of the many events surrounding this year's Daytona sign-ups.

As noted in the Feb. 3 edition of Flyer News, this year was a transition year for Daytona sign-ups. Changes made for this year included a switch from one line to three lines, the addition of a raffle and the cancellation of the campout'all in an effort to make sign-ups a better, easier process.

The procedure was designed for 500 to 600 people, which was a few hundred more than attended last year. This year on the afternoon of D2D sign-ups, there were approximately 1,300 students in attendance. This magnified greatly any issues that may have popped up with 600 students.

The system this year was designed to allow freedom to the students while continuing to make sign-ups the event that students look forward to. With many of our traditions fading (e.g. Homecoming), Daytona is still something that unites students and alumni and we want to make sure that it carries on.

In past years, and again this year, some students have suggested a seniority or credit hours-based sign-up system. As SGA and the Daytona Committee have advocated in the past and will continue to do in the future, we are here to serve the students; and greatly value their opinions.

If the students' voice is for a system based on seniority or credit hours, we will do everything in our power to make that happen. But we would also like to take this opportunity to let the students know what changes would have to be made in order to implement such a system, based on seniority or credit hours.

There would be certain personal information required from each student in order for Daytona to be organized by seniority or credit hours. Because obtaining this information would require extensive permission from each student and from the university, and because it would take unwieldy amounts of time, there would be greater limitations on the D2D system.

In a seniority or credit-hour-based system, all students wishing to participate in the Daytona trip would be required to have a full, five-person room'along with everyone's $50 deposit paid and in our system'far earlier than the late January sign-up date that you are now accustomed to. This would mean that any student who does not have a full room or does not have the funds required to pay the deposit in early January would not be able to attend the trip in May. This would also force us to move any group in which a roommate drops out or switches rooms to be placed at the end of the line, in order to keep the seniority or credit hour numbering system in place.

Furthermore, a credit or seniority based system would require additional work for our current tour company and would undoubtedly have an effect on the overall cost of the Daytona trip.

We appreciate all the support that the UD community has given SGA and the Daytona Committee on this matter, and we look forward to providing the students with not only the biggest, but one of the best D2D experiences ever!

Adam Rathge

Brian Felter

SGA Trip Coordinators

Dayton to Daytona