By SHANNON FALLON
Weren’t lucky enough to win tickets to see the Dalai Lama speak Wednesday at Florida Atlantic University? Don't fret. You still have a chance to grab a seat to the sold-out event, but it’ll cost you a pretty penny.
More than 6,000 students and faculty members entered to win one of the 1,000 tickets raffled off for free. Another 3,000 tickets were released in mid-January for sale to the public, with prices ranging from $49 to $75. They sold out within a matter of a few weeks.
With all the seats gobbled up, it became time for the scalpers to take over. Tickets to the event are being offered at premium prices on eBay and Craigslist. A pair of tickets appears on eBay, with 21 bids pushing the price to $355.00. And the bidding continues. Craigslist has individual tickets ranging from $75 to $300.
If you aren’t looking to spend a small fortune to hear His Holiness speak, there are other options for getting a piece of the peace talk.
Some 2,000 students will watch the Dalai Lama on a simulcast at the Student Union Center on the Boca Raton campus.
The Dalai Lama is set to speak on Wednesday at 10 a.m., with a speech entitled, “Compassion as a Pillar of World Peace.”
Some students and faculty say, though, that the practice of scalping tickets for a speech that's supposed to be centered on compassion and spirituality is inappropriate, to use the mildest of the descriptions.
