OUR VIEW: Hopeful for program smorgasbord
This year the new ASUSU Programming Vice President Zach Larsen has big britches to fill and has previously promised that he and his team plan to knock the socks off the greater majority of the USU student body this academic year. During the 2010-11 fall and spring semesters, a palpable funk began to brew between The Statesman and some of the hard-working students and faculty advisers affiliated with ASUSU and its administration. The interesting part about this – hindsight always offers a less-cloudy view of how to do things right – was that, really, the two sides to this particular coin just needed to boost their level of communication and step up their respective games.
Just as the ASUSU executive council has a shiny, new face, so does The Utah Statesman. It’s safe to say both sides are 100 percent committed to bringing their “A”-game.
This year, as we said, Larsen and his colleagues have essentially promised a more diverse, well-rounded, ample and straight-up “legit” host of activities and events. Of course we can still look forward to the usual annual favorites such as the sweat-logged HOWL and the northern Utah version of Mardi Gras festivities. But this year, after surveying student respondents and dissecting the good and the not-so-good from years past, Larsen and the others seem to confidently stand by their projections.
After interviewing a handful of ASUSU administrators in the spring about 2010 budget expenditures, The Statesman and its readers learned that, as a whole, ASUSU departments handle a large sum of dough, and they have honestly convinced us they do their best to make everybody happy. Going into those interviews, there was a sense of looming tension derived by memories of feeling tarnished in the press, but it was reiterated that we at The Statesman are simply looking to do our jobs by making sure everyone else does theirs. So far, everything looks promising.
So what should we look forward to this year? There aren’t a whole lot of details, just yet. But we’ve been told, as fee-paying students, a larger quantity of somewhat smaller events are on the extracurricular horizon. Smaller most likely implies there are no plans to hire any actors, writers, or comedians for $50,000, or more, and run the risk of chewing up an entire budget on one thing that only some people can, or want to go to. The word is that, yes, the typical late teen, early 20s college students can expect several events that may, or may not, cater to their interests. This way, hypothetically, more students can and will go to more events because there will be a larger variety of times and attractions to choose from.
What about those non-traditional students out there, including married couples, veterans and others? Don’t they pay the same fees? The question was asked and the answer was: Larsen said he knows we exist, and said he’s brainstorming ways he can appease as many people as possible during his time as the programming veep.
The future looks bright. We should expect to hear about and see, perhaps, a budding indie-folk band, or possibly open mic nights, or whatever avant garde, creative diversions the brains from the third floor of the TSC can come up with. As one editor from The Statesman said, “It’s a great idea, let’s just see if it comes to fruition.” We’re plugging for this new idea, and hope those who have put these beautiful images of diversity in our heads will follow through.