LETTER: Novak comes at high price

To the editor:

    If you haven’t heard, BJ Novak is coming to campus. Yes that’s right, one of the writers for the hit comedy, The Office, is coming to Utah State. Now before you pull out your Crackberry and tweet “OMG SOOOO EXCITED #BJNOVAK IS COMING TO USU!” you should also know we are paying him $50,000 to be here. Yes sir, BJ Novak is making an easy $50,000 to spend one hour standing on stage to amaze us with his practiced wit and humor.

    You want to know the best part? Not only are your student fees going to cover the down payment on his L.A. condo, only 2,100 of you get that chance to attend, better get those tickets quick. For those of you who don’t like math that’s $50,000 for a show only 12 percent of the student body gets to attend.

    As a former ASUSU Programming Director I think the most important piece of this is that this spree was all a gamble. Believe it or not USU has a diverse population. It is the job of those putting on these activities to try and bring a diverse group of speakers, musicians, comedians etc. so they can satisfy many students’ interests. Spending over half your budget on an event only 12 percent of students can attend, hoping to make it back through ticket sales is risky and not good programming.

    Few students know that the ASUSU Arts and Lectures Director gets around $90,000 a year to spend on speakers, musicians and any other performers he or she sees fit. This, if anything, should be a wake-up call to students to pay closer attention at election time when you’re picking next year’s officers; your vote matters.

Kayla Harris