Ready for Deadfest 2006?
The Chronicle's View
Issue date: 7/27/06 Section: Opinion
The Presenter's Office made its first big move of the year last week, announcing that students will have to pay to attend this fall's Redfest concert.
Students haven't been charged for the event since the 2003-2004 school year, when a ticketed Pennywise concert yielded just 1,070 attendants while the obscure "Flowbots" drew 5,741 at a later free showing. Since then, The Grand Kerfuffle and Redfest-the two major events of the year sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of Utah-have been held free of charge to all students in the interests of increasing participation.
Last year, however, the Grand Kerfuffle went over budget by $66,000 in a three-day extravaganza that attracted 21,000 visitors. And, while ASUU promises that their actions are not related to the efforts of last year's administration, it seems clear that this year's fees are motivated by a reactionary sense of fiscal responsibility.
The result is that students will have to pay between $6 and $8 per show to see Flogging Molly, the Ataris and others on Sep. 21 and 22, despite already dropping $20 per semester in fees which are supposed to help cover such campus events.
Though Student Body President Jake Kirkham said he believes the lineup of bands is impressive enough to entice students regardless of cost, it's hard to see why the Ataris would succeed where Pennywise failed.
More important: Whether ASUU recoups their costs or not, it's even harder to see why students are expected to pay twice for the same event. We are not giving ASUU $20 in fees every semester so that it can bring more "affordable" concerts to the Salt Lake area.
Attendance should always be ASUU's biggest concern, and by that measure, this upcoming Redfest could be a debacle. Most students at the U who are already apathetic toward involvement will become downright averse to U events when money is involved.
If ASUU does actually meet its bottom line, perhaps that will lead to future benefits for U students-but it may well continue to bomb monetarily (despite its "itemized budget"), if the bands turn out to be less popular than Kirkham thinks.
The bottom line is that we pay fees to ASUU so that it can best serve our collective interests in campus participation, and that means-all together now-free shows, please.
Students haven't been charged for the event since the 2003-2004 school year, when a ticketed Pennywise concert yielded just 1,070 attendants while the obscure "Flowbots" drew 5,741 at a later free showing. Since then, The Grand Kerfuffle and Redfest-the two major events of the year sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of Utah-have been held free of charge to all students in the interests of increasing participation.
Last year, however, the Grand Kerfuffle went over budget by $66,000 in a three-day extravaganza that attracted 21,000 visitors. And, while ASUU promises that their actions are not related to the efforts of last year's administration, it seems clear that this year's fees are motivated by a reactionary sense of fiscal responsibility.
The result is that students will have to pay between $6 and $8 per show to see Flogging Molly, the Ataris and others on Sep. 21 and 22, despite already dropping $20 per semester in fees which are supposed to help cover such campus events.
Though Student Body President Jake Kirkham said he believes the lineup of bands is impressive enough to entice students regardless of cost, it's hard to see why the Ataris would succeed where Pennywise failed.
More important: Whether ASUU recoups their costs or not, it's even harder to see why students are expected to pay twice for the same event. We are not giving ASUU $20 in fees every semester so that it can bring more "affordable" concerts to the Salt Lake area.
Attendance should always be ASUU's biggest concern, and by that measure, this upcoming Redfest could be a debacle. Most students at the U who are already apathetic toward involvement will become downright averse to U events when money is involved.
If ASUU does actually meet its bottom line, perhaps that will lead to future benefits for U students-but it may well continue to bomb monetarily (despite its "itemized budget"), if the bands turn out to be less popular than Kirkham thinks.
The bottom line is that we pay fees to ASUU so that it can best serve our collective interests in campus participation, and that means-all together now-free shows, please.
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