No More Whining and Pining about Campus Events |
Whining can only get you so far. Yes, I know that sounds harsh but its true. I am not saying that complaining isn’t our right and that we should just accept things for the way they are…nope I am saying that people should stop WHINING and take some action.
Case and point an article done in the Daily 49er on April 26th, 2007 entitled, “For the best on-campus entertainment go on campus at a different school.” The writer expresses his disinterest in the bands that appear, he refers to the lack of a huge event on our campus and in general the lack of “entertainment” found at The Beach by comparing us to other campuses. Well I am here to explain some of how all events happen on campus.
There are two weekly programs that enable live bands to come to our campus. One is sponsored by our student run radio station K-Beach that hosts a band night every Thursday at the Nugget. The other is our noon-time concerts sponsored by our USU Program Council. These weekly events are meant to give students the opportunity to hang out on campus and see some of the up and coming artists, many times the bands themselves are college-age students just trying to make a living. By providing them a venue and an audience, The Beach is helping them to become the rock stars that some day they hope to be.
The reporter mentions names of bands he would like to see on our campus that other schools have had. He says those are the amazing bands that we need to have and if they are not here then the rest of the bands are a waste. Well here comes the next point, these events need volunteers for them to happen. That can mean being in charge of the event to just suggesting band names. I would also like to mention that all of the bands that were mentioned I have no idea who they are and I listen to a lot of broad general music. Those artists are just as obscure for me as maybe Latin, R&B, or country artists would be to the reporter.
We’ve had in our history huge events and concerts, Warped Tour was on our campus and we use to have an event called Fall Fest. It was similar to the idea of the Sun God Festival at UCSD that is mentioned in the article. Why don’t we have one compared to other universities… again because of volunteers. If the campus really wanted a large event like that (which I know I always wanted) then students should step up and try to organize it. The event costs a lot of money and there are lots of restrictions put on to have a large event like that, but that’s okay as long as students are in charge.
On top of that, the price to have big names come to our campus is astonishing. I know how much UCSD pays for some of their past events and I will tell you this… the CSULB students I know would rather see their fees go to something more productive then just one band. There have been many students over the years that have complained about money spent on different programs and campaigns and for them to see how much one concert for a big name would cost would cause major protests.
We also on this campus believe in diversity of events, there are comedy nights with notable names and our fellow 49ers, cultural events that include performances and even community service events to get students involved. If that is not enough for you well then ASI provides grants for student organizations themselves to be able to put on events and I know organizations this year that put on comedy and entertainment filled programs.
He writes about how our fees go to programming but misses the one key point… to get any of these programs going there needs to be volunteers. If you want a big event, with bands you like and comedians that get you going then how about planning the event yourself.
My tip of the week is simply if you want to see some change and more fun events then become active. Okay how to do it follow these steps…
- Go to room 311 on the third floor of the USU.
- Get an application and fill it out right there.
- Make sure to say you want to be part of planning concerts or events on campus.
- Check back in one week.
- Have ready your plans and ideas. Like you want to have so and so perform on campus…
If you don’t think you have the time to be in charge of the event you could still be part of a committee who over sees the event. Names of the commissions you would most likely be interested in: Special Events, Arts Commission, and the Entertainment Commission.
So go forth and bring those acts you want on campus.
Want more from Meli? Check out Meli's previous blogs! |
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Who is Meli The Gr8?When she is not posing next to trees, Meli Duque uses her time to trick unknowing freshmen into giving all their time to ASI. The self-proclaimed Beach Guru is a super-senior who has been involved, one way or another, in almost every type of organization on campus, which includes writing for both school newspapers (when that was allowed), joining a sorority, campaigning for student government, and even rowing on the women's crew team (it only lasted two weeks). Now she stays chained to a desk in ASI Communications where she writes, edits and awaits her chance to escape into the "real world" this spring. |