Letter to the Editor: CAB responds

April 21, 2005

Dear Editor:

In an editorial written by Dan Tomlin and published in the February 24, 2005 issue of The Buzz, CAB was raked across the coals and we would like a chance to defend the organization.

As far as student input on the concert; 10 executives run CAB and we have approximately 25 committee members who are part of CAB simply because they wish to be involved. They were asked to make a list of groups or artists they wished to see for the spring concert, which was narrowed down, by affordability and availability to the top five artists. The CAB executives then made the final choice.

The past two years have shown that different genres do work at this school. Ben Folds is quite different than OAR and has a different fan base. We thought since we had a good response changing it the year before, this year would be no different.

CAB is not in it for the money. We are trying to provide quality music, lectures, comedians, and events for the student body on a budget, which the university provides with the knowledge we will spend it wisely. The concert is a gamble because we do not have the money to cover all expenses, we rely on ticket sales.

Three years ago, the concert did not happen because the tour of the artist we had started to negotiate a concert with fell through and left us nothing. Since it was so late in the semester when CAB found out, we could not get another artist for the concert in enough time. We chose to spend the concert budget on a Weekend in the Sun, giving out prizes like televisions with no hope of profit. This shows that CAB is not in it for the profit; we are in it to provide students with different opportunities for entertainment.

The last piece we wish to share with the student body is that at the end of Dan’s editorial, he urged the student body to send us comments if they were disappointed with CAB and how it is run. Currently, CAB has only received glowing reviews on past events and on the concert this year.

What if we had never had a country artist and those students who came to this concert felt like they were being left out of CAB events? We received a comment from our website:” The Emerson Drive concert was great!!!! I’m so excited that you finally decided to cater to the country fans, in bringing a band to the area.” This and every concert have been learning experiences for CAB, and ones, which we are proud of.

We urge any student who has ANY feedback on ANY of our events, to stop by the CAB office – 1st floor Rogalski Center, email the president haessigheidic@sau.edu or call us 333-6395. We would more than gladly take any feedback. CAB is for the students, tell us what you want.

Signed,

Heidi Haessig – CAB President
Melissa Homco – CAB Secretary/Treasurer

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