Maroon 5 was given a rave review in "Maroon 5 hosts sold-out musical performance in Leede" (The Dartmouth, April 26), pointing out the sold-out crowd was well-entertained by the band. What the article neglected to mention were the people responsible for bringing this sold-out event to campus.
The Dartmouth Programming Board got less love in The D than Princeton gets at a hockey game. No mention was made either, of the fact that PB has sold out all four concerts brought to campus this year. OAR, Lewis Black, Tracy Morgan and Maroon 5 all played to sold-out audiences comprised mainly of entertainment-hungry Dartmouth students. Over 90 percent of the audience at Tracy Morgan were Dartmouth undergrads, and more than half of the concertgoers this weekend know how to rack up a game of pong.
Amazingly enough, our student publications still find the time to point out what a waste of money the Programming Board is. The Free Press recently wrote, " it's rather a wonder that our Programming Board has chosen to book a band my kid sister would go ga-ga over." They mentioned other bands such as Damien Rice, the French Kicks and Death Cab for Cutie that they believed would be better alternatives to a band with two billboard top 10 singles in the last year.
What they don't realize, however, is that Death Cab for Cutie was, in fact, our first choice for the spring concert, but they stopped accepting dates before we secured Leede. Maroon 5 was actually No. 2 on our list.
People think bringing bands to Dartmouth is as easy as finding prospies on Webster Avenue. It's not that simple, folks. Most people don't understand the blood, sweat and tears involved with bringing a big name act to campus. Don't ask if we're going to bring Dave Chappelle back, he is too expensive and didn't have a TV show then. We are forced to book our concerts on dates given to us by Spaulding and Leede, so even if we find an act who just happens to be rounding out their "Upper Valley Ice-Kold Tour" that day, odds are they are too expensive.
I'm sorry Miss Dartmouth, I am for real, Outkast ain't comin' to Hanover. We simply can't afford it on $60 per term per student (your student activities fee, which funds everything from PB to SA). We're not Michigan or Ohio State. Groups don't want to play for 2,000 kids on a basketball court when they can perform in front of thousands shelling out $75 a ticket at Madison Square Garden.
We could bring Dave Matthews, but we don't think that enough students here would be willing to throw down the $55 for a ticket. But then again, we could be wrong. Tell us, at our meetings every Monday at 3:00 p.m. in Collis 101. Oh, and by the way, we don't have membership requirements when voting for concerts. So, instead of killing trees with editorializing and unresearched criticisms, why don't you stop by and raise your hand if you want Jay-Z so badly?
On another note, the Verbatim Ultimum (The Dartmouth, April 16) was so frustrated "to observe how dire reports of a budget crisis are used to justify spending cuts on popular programs" that they decided to take it out on the Regurgitator. So did the Dartmouth Review, which wrote, "let me redirect my complaints and ridicule to where it truly belongs; the college's Programming Board, and the administrators who shovel money at them."
Once again, we would like to point out that the administration gives us a whopping total of $0 out of their yearly budget. All of our money comes from the student activities fee that you pay every term. Or did you just not bother to look this up? Here are two other words we think you should look up: responsible journalism. Administrative cutbacks are not our problem. Yeah, they suck, but we pay for our events from an entirely different budget, the student activities fee.
Each spring the Undergraduate Finance Committee, headed by students, decides how to distribute the $180 each student pays every year for student activities, and surprisingly enough, hiring new profs or starting a new department is not within our funding capabilities. Do your research before you decide to lash out at the Programming Board. We are tired of being a tackling dummy every time someone feels like bitching about money.
Here's a little research that we did: The last positive article about the PB in The D was written in 1994, 10 years ago. We're sick of it; all the work we do is to provide fun, non-alcoholic alternatives that are entertaining and interesting to students. Come to Bingo night, if you can squeeze in. Or check out Pippin, which wouldn't have happened if PB hadn't chipped in the extra couple grand. And forget about the Sheba show, the AXA Step Show, Harlequins, the Phi Delt Lawn Party at Green Key and sophomore DOC trips without PB co-sponsorship. While we're at it, we don't need Homecoming or Winter Carnival either, that's just another waste of PB money, isn't it?
By the way, you picked the wrong act to complain about; Stevie Starr, the Regurgitator, was brought back for the third year in a row by popular demand, and the over-capacity crowd seemed pretty psyched to see a Scotsman swallow a lightbulb. We are tired of the PB getting no love from our publications, and we wouldn't mind getting some credit once in a while. If you think you have better ideas, come to our meetings instead of hiding behind newspaper columns, and next time you go to an event, look for "Sponsored by the Dartmouth Programming Board" on the flier; you might see it more than once.
We are your neighbor, lend us some sugar.
