CUB asks for respect
After the Student Activity Fee (SAF) increased this past year, the College Union Board (CUB) received funding for bigger events. By the end of the year, we will have produced weekly bus trips, monthly nooners in the Brower Student Center, three concerts, three comedy shows, novelty programming and weekly CUB-Rathskeller events.
On Jan. 23, we held our Welcome Back Concert, featuring Brand New. We were budgeted for a concert in Kendall Hall. CUB knew the Brand New show would sell, but we did not think we would have to turn away so many students. We could not place this show in the Student Recreation Center since it would cost an additional $20,000. We planned to hold a large-scale hip hop concert in the Rec. Center this year, so we planned to hold Brand New as part of our Welcome Back Concert in Kendall Hall.
Going into CUB's explanation of ticket sales and line cutting would be pointless. You can read The Signal over the past few weeks to learn what happened. The only way we could have prevented what happened would have been to get a band that was not as popular. We would have received a small turnout, and those who liked the band would have been happy. Those who didn't like the band would comment on CUB's poor taste in music. Do we get a band that will draw students and fill only the orchestra seating of Kendall, or do we get a band, have a sold-out show and turn people away? Think about it. We sold out the show, which we have not done since the Gavin Degraw concert in the 2005.
As a board, we are rigorously planning the rest of the semester, but we are still being condemned for the Brand New concert. CUB welcomes feedback from students, but we ask for respect in return. We understand we can't please everyone, but we would like feedback to be given properly. Obscene comments posted on The Signal online and attacks to CUB members are unacceptable. If we didn't want to please the student body, we would not be putting in more than 20 hours a week to produce events.
We understand the students want to have a voice. After all, we all pay into the SAF, and we all want to see great events. The only thing we can do is learn from past events - what went wrong and what worked. Rather than hurting fellow students who have worked diligently since May, we hope you know we learn from our events and improve upon them. If you were on line for the remaining Ludacris and Lupe Fiasco tickets, you could see how ticket sales ran smoother because of what we learned from the Brand New concert. When students were disappointed with the concert choice of Rihanna, we sent out a survey with concert choices which lead to the sold-out Ludacris and Lupe Fiasco concert. When students expressed an interest in choosing comedians, we sent out a survey, and Demetri Martin will be coming to the College in April. Above all, we listen to what you are all saying and work to improve.
I hope you understand we weren't pleased to turn away hundreds of students, but putting down your peers is counterproductive. For anyone who feels strongly about our events, come to our meetings on Wednesdays at 3 p.m. in student center room 202 East. Run for a position on the executive board. Run a concert, comedy show, bus trip or Rat show. Until then, please be respectful of the students who are working for you.
Katerina Gkionis,
Executive Director, CUB
Extra tickets are a mystery
Thank you College Union Board (CUB) and Student Finance Board (SFB) for your dedicated service and commitment to the College this year, collaborating on providing activities that appeal to the campus community and appropriately funding these campus activities. I would like to bring to your attention some concerns regarding the handling of past events on campus, such as the Ludacris and Lupe Fiasco concert ticket sales.
A campus-wide e-mail said, "Unknown to the student selling tickets, there were actually a limited supply." This sounds very sketchy. I am not sure what is going on, but I think I speak for a majority of students when I say more transparency is needed. No one knew exactly how many tickets were available to College students and how many were being held for other purposes.
Practicing full disclosure and transparency is of the utmost importance when dealing with more than $100,000 of our collective Student Activity Fee. People have, for a whole week, been forced to buy tickets at prices ranging from $30 to $60 from students interested in making a profit. Obviously, the tickets didn't magically appear, and to portray that through an e-mail is insulting. Again, thank you, CUB, for continuing service to this campus and providing diverse, fun-filled activities that we can all enjoy. I hope this is received as constructive criticism and not an aim at devaluing the organization.
Fred Derilus
