No one expected the crowds. During a cold day last week, students began lining up to see comedian Jim Breuer, a Saturday Night Live alum and star of the cult hit “Half Baked.”

They started lining up at about 3:30 p.m.

By the 8 p.m. show time, an estimated 2,000 students were lined up.

Only about 800 actually got to see the show.

The rest were locked out and went home.

There was no way Campus Activities Board members could have expected that type of turnout.

But maybe next time they will.

In the past, Western students have sparsely attended Western or CAB events. Only small crowds showed up for Blessed Union of Souls and Sister Hazel. Rapper Ice-T couldn’t even pack DUC Theatre.

Who would’ve thought a man known to many as “Goatboy” would leave more than 1,200 students out in the cold?

For all CAB officials knew, this could have been another half-empty crowd.

There’s a lesson here.

Apparently, Western students like to see people who make them laugh. Let’s take note of that and bring in some more.

Case in point – Breuer. About 2,000 people.

Loveline co-host Dr. Drew Pinsky. A near capacity crowd in 1,000-seat Van Meter Auditorium.

Western students fork over a lot of money every year to fund CAB’s budget. Every year CAB tries to bring in people that students like. Despite their efforts, rarely do students show up for the events.

Let’s bring in some more people like Breuer.

And here are suggestions for avoiding future shut-outs.

Offer tickets in advance. At least this will give officials an idea of how many people will show up at the event. Don’t make it a general admission show. Students who show up and get advance tickets get better seating.

Closed circuit televisions. If a show sells out and there’s crowd of 1,000 waiting to get in, show the performance on closed circuit television on Channel 12, formerly our campus movie channel, or on a screen in DUC. Sure, the environment won’t be there, but at least people will get to see it.

If the show sells out, do two shows. It may sound crazy, but it has been known to happen before. When Jerry Seinfeld performed at the Palace Theater in Louisville, there was a clause in his contract that said if the first show sold out, he would perform another.

Sure it costs extra money. But in our case, if students are that interested in seeing a show, why not fork over the extra cash?

We just hope these suggestions keep more students out of the cold and inside the fun.

This editorial represents the majority opinion of the Herald’s 10-member board of student editors.