According to Bob Arkeilpane, interim director of athletics, the university sold an average of 19,940 tickets to each of its four home games, or more than 79,000, this fall, comfortably surpassing the 17,000-paid-ticket minimum required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

"We're really pleased, because the opportunity for us to go into the Mid-American Conference and compete at the Division I-A level in football is something a lot of people have been working toward for a long time," he said.

Arkeilpane acknowledged that the past year has been a difficult one for athletics, between the stiff attendance targets the division was required to meet and the loss of former Athletic Director Nelson Townsend, who experienced a heart attack in March and in August resigned as director to assume the duties of associate vice president for student affairs and special assistant to UB President William R. Greiner.

But with the apparent success of UB's ticket-sales efforts-those figures first must be verified by an NCAA audit-the university has "turned a corner," Arkeilpane said.

It's not the final corner, he noted.

NCAA regulations require that games be played in a stadium that seats a minimum of 30,000. Construction of a 14,500-seat expansion of UB stadium is scheduled to begin in April and is expected to be completed in August in time for UB's first home football game on Sept. 11.

Additionally, the 17,000 per-game attendance figure still remains a factor. By virtue of its new conference affiliation, UB retains its Division I-A status when a majority of the schools in the MAC meet the minimum requirement.

The MAC also mandates that its members field teams in six particular sports. Included among this list are baseball and softball, which the Division of Athletics announced last week will be reinstated into the program.

But for now, Arkeilpane said he is pleased that UB has met this fall's goals for reclassification to Division I-A.

It could not have happened without the university community and its support, he added.

"We hope people enjoyed the environment that was created and hope they will continue to be supportive as we move into the Mid-American Conference," Arkeilpane said.

"This isn't 'mission: accomplished,'" he added. "The mission has just begun."

Many people worked hard this year to provide game-goers with new and unique experiences, such as Kidzone, distribution of Victor E. Bull bean-bag buddies and the Halloween "Spook-tacular." Bulls' fans should expect to enjoy similar attractions next year, he said.

Tailgate parties are another tradition that Arkeilpane hopes to see continue in the 1999 season.

"People were tailgating everywhere," he said. "To arrive two to three hours before a game and see group after group after group was a great feeling."

Arkeilpane had high praise for the Office of Campus Parking and Transportation Services and the Department of Public Safety, which he said did a great job untangling traffic snarls as the season went on.

"Who ever thought there'd be a parking problem this early in the growth process?" he noted.

He also gave kudos to Dining Services, which catered a meal for students at one game, and to the Faculty Student Association, which handled stadium concessions for the first time this season.

But perhaps most exciting was the atmosphere that the games created.

"What a great environment for kids. It's really a family event," Arkeilpane said. "It's the same positive athletic experience you get at a professional football game, but at a very different price."