Dear Tatiana and the Social Committee:
Thank you for your recent response. (April 30) I apologize once again if you feel that my original message was misinformed. However, I believe there is still a problem with the way Spring Fling groups have been booked this year, and I hope to address that and encourage other concerned students to do what you recommend and sign up to help steer the Social Committee beginning next fall so student complaints actually have some impact on the outcome of such events as Spring Fling.
First of all, you mentioned that the Social Committee is made up of hard-working students looking out for the majority’s best interests. No doubt.
However, few people on this campus know who is on the Social Committee or how to approach you in order to offer an opinion. The point I am getting at is that until Tatiana’s recent Wespeak, I did not know that a Social Committee comment box existed at the WSA, and I spend a fair amount of time at that building.
My next issue is that of responsiveness. Some students may remember when Westco Café was packed with 200 people for Sacred Slam, featuring Mattisyahu the Orthodox Jewish beatboxing hip-hop artist. Well my friend Sam set it up so that the Social Committee would only have to pay a measly $2,500 for the six-person group to play Spring Fling, contacted the Social Committee, and they got back to him two months later telling him they had JUST sent out a few contracts and couldn’t book anyone else at that point. I am not criticizing Ghostface Killah in particular, Social Committee, nor having more than one act, but the issues surrounding the bookings: lack of transparency and outreach to the community.
Tatiana mentioned in her Wespeak that the Social Committee was not allotted any more money than last year. A question I have is, “When asking for a raise in the student tax why did the WSA advertise that more money would go to booking a better name for Spring Fling and not follow through?”
Enough grumbling on my part. I now know thanks to your response that I and other concerned students can sign up next fall to be a part of the planning committee for such events as Spring Fling. I hope other students who have supported the message of my last Wespeak will take the time to sign up at the WSA for the Social Committee next fall and ideally we will have more of an impact than we had this year and design a model for greater outreach to students in the future.
Thank you Social Committee for organizing the show. No one pays you or thanks you enough, and all we do is criticize, but even within this critique I want to say that I think you’ve done an amazing job in organizing this year’s show.
I am looking forward to it. You basically rule.
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