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Nap Time!!!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Counting Crows

So, buried in my non-minute report on the ASUC minutes from a few weeks back was the note that the Counting Crows were coming for a concert. SUPERB General Manager Eugene Chow contacted me and asked me to change that piece of information so that it would be more suggestive, or remove the "Shatners" reference. See, crazy concert people changed the contract so that they couldn't even bill the event as an event by the Shatners, but just couldn't say anything. So their mention of it in the Senate turned into a whoops moment.

I don't typically remove information upon request unless it's false, so I'm going to leave it in, which Chow seemed fine with.

However, I'm a very cynical person, and I suggested that it seemed like the concert, scheduled for April 4, was an attempt to get votes for the SUPERB fee increase. The concert, "the biggest concert this campus has seen in over 6 years" according to Chow, will be fresh in everyone's mind so that they'll forget that they haven't been getting concerts like this all year, and won't even if the fee passes. (That's the thing about "biggest-in-6-years concerts." They won't come again within most college careers)

Just like last year, when the executives scheduled all their major events to be around election time and then sent out an e-mail talking about it at election time, also reminding folks to vote, it seems like an effort to cover up an ineffective rest-of-the-year.

In response, Chow noted being on track to have an attendance record of 24,000 students this year. Of course, they have no way of knowing how many students have attended their events. Their attendance records will count attendances, but obviously many students go to more than one event. Even if they were all different students, that's still a third of campus not served. The actual proportion of students served is far lower. Is that impressive? I dunno. I certainly haven't noticed a glut of SUPERB events this year.

But that 24,000 number is interesting. The fee increase they seek is $6 a year per student for SUPERB, which with this year's enrollment and budget data means a budget boost of around $91,500. If they took that out of their attendees, it's about $4 an attendance, and if they put on more stuff and attendance goes up, that cost goes down. Are SUPERB's events simply not good enough to get attendance if people have to pay? And if so, why does that mean that everyone else should have to subsidize their inadequacy?

posted by Beetle Aurora Drake 3/25/2008 11:20:00 AM #
Comments (11)
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Comments:
Nothing to do with this post, but I wanna ask what you think of SA running Christian Calderon for senate: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=757750622 .

He seems more like an insane CalSERVE than anything else and I doubt that SA actually wants this guy elected. Are they just using him to pull in the "left" vote and then planning to drop him in the first round?
 
SA does not drop people on any round and I am sure they would love to see him elected. SA is not anti-CalSERVE and people with their ideas can run with SA.

You forget that the biggest difference between the parties is not ideology but doing things on campus versus focusing your resources on off-campus issues.
 
(munching on popcorn) Oooooooooooh!
 
"You forget that the biggest difference between the parties is not ideology but doing things on campus versus focusing your resources on off-campus issues."

So SA agrees with CalSERVE about putting all the funds in the recruitment and retention centers (ON CAMPUS)?
 
I think the truth is that Calderon isn't a CalSERVE-like candidate. His platform is:

Art and Music
-Install a student operated recording studio
-Drop the ASUC Art Studio fee for students
-Prevent SUPERB Budget cuts

So I think he fits in with the student action ideology.
 
Um, maybe the concert coincides with elections because SUPERB always has a Spring Concert (which takes place in the Spring), and elections are also in the Spring.
 
Yeah, that's sort of the point. Every major event happens in the Spring.
 
you know, this is actually probably what SUPERB wants you to do.

You are publicizing the show.
 
Oh noes!!!

I publicize things. It's sort of what I do. God knows the Daily Cal does a shitty job of it when it comes to ASUC matters.

The infinitely partisan out there may be willing to let their personal goals control what kind of information they share and what they try to hide, but I'm not really into it.
 
...well everything occurs in the spring...big events, which include the elections (i think that's a big event), seem to happen in the spring because that's the optimal time to have big things...iono just a thought...so maybe you're drawing too much out of a coincidence
 
election season promises happen during election seasons - it's just one of those zany things about democracy.
 
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