Big names missing from recent entertainers

By Jeff Trull

Throughout the past three years here at UMass Dartmouth, I have been purely disappointed with the speakers and entertainers that our school has brought on campus. Whether it is has-been rock groups or B-list celebrities, there really isn’t anything for me to point to and say “Wow, that person was amazing!” I bet a lot of people would agree, as no one has come to UMD that the campus has been genuinely excited about. With another disappointing CAB performer coming to campus in May, there is no relief in sight for the remainder of the year.

In the years immediately prior to myself enrolling here, UMD brought in good, if not, great, speakers. During the 2003-2004 school year, writer and filmmaker Michael Moore came to campus. Now before shooting me down and calling Michael Moore an idiot, he’s still a big-name speaker whether you like him or not. His movies and books arouse controversy, and he has even won an Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine.” Then, in November 2004, the campus hosted Maya Angelou. Judging from the Torch coverage (Volume 51 Issue 11), the event was a huge success. The event sold out as 2,300 people packed the Tripp Athletic Center. For students more interested in entertainment, comedian Dane Cook hit the UMD campus in the spring of 2005. Dane Cook was still rising in popularity with college-aged people, and recently sold-out show at the TD Banknorth Garden. As soon as the UMD event was announced, there was a buzz across campus. For the first day that tickets went on sale, students camped out hours ahead of time at the campus center. This event also sold out, once again attracting students in the thousands. I went to the show and had a great time. With such widespread excitement for these events it appeared a positive trend had been developed. But this was not the case, as Cook would be the last big name celebrity to appear on the UMD campus for some time.

From fall 2005 to present, there have been virtually no big names that have come to the UMD campus. There have been a few attempts to attract both large excitement and a large crowd of UMD students, but all have failed to do so. In 2006, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) brought in Yellowcard for the “spring concert.” While several hundred students attended, Yellowcard was past its peak popularity and probably better suited for a high school crowd. The show did not nearly arouse same interest as Dane Cook had a year prior. The 2006-2007 school year didn’t bring anyone memorable to campus. There wasn’t even a real spring concert that year (and no, I’m not counting those bands that played for a handful of students in the Commuter Café).

The 2007-2008 year hasn’t been much of an improvement. Both “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver and women’s movement leader Gloria Steinem were notable, but neither are big names. A lot of students had never heard of either person. Of the “big” events from fall 2005 to present, none, with the exception of Yellowcard, have even taken place in the campus’ largest venue, the Tripp Athletic Center, never mind selling it out.

While CAB does put on some good events, many are only mediocre. The easiest example of CAB’s shortcomings is the horde of no-name comedians that come on a regular basis. Many of these comedians aren’t even funny, but CAB just brings them in month after month. The spring concerts, or lack there of, have been disappointing compared to area colleges. UMass Amherst hosted Ben Folds, Talib Kwelli, and OK Go last year. Brown University had Wilco perform a couple a years ago. While these aren’t huge names, they’re certainly better than we have seen recently. Perhaps our school has less students and less money, but clearly we have still been able to get big names in the past.

If you’re still optimistic about events for the rest of this school year, you might not be as excited any longer. Lately students around campus may have noticed the yellow “He’s Coming 5/1/08” flyers around campus posted by CAB. While I’m sure this big secret was meant to generate “who can it be?!?” excitement, I knew better than that. Sure enough, my hunch was right. I recently found out that the “he” is Sean Kingston. I’m sure your response, like mine, was along the lines of “who is that?” The best I can do for you is he’s the one that brought you that “Beautiful Girls” song from last year. If that still doesn’t have you jumping out of your seat well, err, better luck next year.

I will say there have been many interesting speakers while I have been here. I’m certain I attend more events than the average UMD student, and I have seen many speakers, such as Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who I have enjoyed. But, sadly, events like these attract only a few hundred students at best. I’ve even been to some events in the UMD auditorium where perhaps only ten or so students attended. While I enjoy these events, it’s fun to see someone who everyone knows and everyone wants to see. For these speakers or performers you can truly look back and think how great it was to see him/her speak or perform in front of thousands of fellow students.

I’m not certain what or whom to blame for the lack of legitimate visitors. I’m sure that budgets and money factor in. Perhaps our relatively-small campus has something to do with it. However, CAB has to take at least some of the blame as well. But, either way, I know that attracting people like those we’ve seen in the past is a possibility.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Vandalism plaguing dorms again

Once again, vandalism sweeps through the UMass Dartmouth campus. In two recent instances at Birch Hall, unidentified individuals broke an elevator and smashed a vending machine.

With these continual occurrences of vandalism, residents are upset with the irresponsibility of other students. In the end, vandalism causes unnecessary costs, labor-intensive clean up and inconvenience. Unfortunately these individuals were not caught, which resulted in thousands of dollars worth of damage. Students are looking for someone to blame, but they really need to look in the mirror. Security cameras and more Resident Assistants on duty may diminish vandalism.

As a college student myself, I do not like to pay extra fees to UMass Dartmouth for acts of vandalisms that I did not commit. We should pay more attention to our surroundings and report any destructive behavior to our RAs and RDs. By demonstrating random acts of vandalism, we are not respecting ourselves and the places we live.

Safety and security of residents can only be obtained if students look out for each other. We need to be more accountable for our actions, while reporting those who neglect procedures. Not all residents should have to incur the costs of damages, except for those who are vandals. Please keep this in mind over the next two months before the semester comes to a close. The absence of vandalism will make UMass Dartmouth a more enjoyable place to live.

With lower vandalism instances, we can save some green and spend it on the things we truly relish instead of paying for peoples’ ignorance. Help us create a positive living environment for the residents at UMass Dartmouth.

The Residence Halls Council has meetings every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Conference room, located next to the SAIL office. We want to hear your voice and suggestions to make this campus a better place for people to reside in. You can also email us your thoughts at umassdrhc.@umassd.edu. Thanks for listening and good luck with the semester!

Nick Prizio
President
Residence Halls Council

SOUL SIGHTINGS

Passover Seder ritual

The Passover Seder is the most widely observed of all Jewish holidays. Recent Jewish populations surveys say that 90% of the American Jewish community attended a Seder last year. This is more people than participate in any other single Jewish ritual. Why would that be? Is it because of the warm homelike nature of the holiday? Is it to spend time with family? Is it because of the wonderful food? Is it because people find the ritual spiritually and intellectually satisfying? Is it because of the emphasis on freedom and liberation for all people?

Avadim hayinu! We were slaves. (In Egypt, during the time of the Bible). Ata B’nei Chorin, now we are free. The traditional Jewish Seder is a ritual meal that interprets events from the book of Exodus. (With lots of delicious food). Please join us at Fredrick Douglas Unity House for a Liberation Seder this year on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. This Liberation Seder will explain and discuss liberation from multiple cultural perspectives. Free traditional refreshments will be served to the first 50 people who attend.

May next year’s Seder be celebrated in a time of peace for Jerusalem and for the entire world!

L’Shalom, (In Peace)
Rabbi Jacqueline Romm Satlow, Director
Center for Jewish Culture

Ben Comeau’s Political Blarb

Democrats still fail to unveil solid plans for Iraq War

By Ben Comeau

Presidential candidates have largely debated their plans for Iraq, but are voters’ questions really being answered?

Barack Obama versus Hillary Clinton in a “bowl-off.” That was headline news this past week, straight from the campaign trail. I know we have come a long way from the first Democratic primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, but if you ask me, this is getting tougher and tougher to swallow. This election is emotionally draining and mentally stupefying.

Recently we saw the Iraq war graduate to being five years of a worthless and bloody conflict.  And America stood on its feet and said “no more killing!” Wait, no it didn’t. Well...the Democrats stood united to win the election and stop this war.  Oh, they didn’t do that either? Nothing? Nobody did anything? Well what the hell is that about?

Both Barack and Hillary haven’t really talked much about the Iraq War. They both make vague promises of troop withdrawals and use phrases like “situation on the ground” and “benchmarks” to bluff Democratic voters into thinking they somehow have a magical plan. To be frank, both candidates haven’t changed their plans since they started running almost a year ago. Both plans lack fundamental understanding of what is happening on that godforsaken plot of oil fields. Hillary won’t commit to anything substantial because she is (and always will be) a poll watching, scheme making politician. And Barack....well let’s face facts. Barack is my candidate of choice, but his plan seems ignorant of the geopolitical situation in the Mid-East and is spotty, at best. If Iraq is such a big part of America’s future, then why aren’t the voters demanding more credibility from their candidates?

It’s because those voters have forgotten what is happening in Iraq because politicians have stopped talking about Iraq. News agencies have stopped covering Iraq because Iraqis are dying too quickly to give 30 second on-camera interviews for Anderson Cooper and all those other jerks on CNN and Fox. Nothing has changed in that damn country. Nothing.

Things were quiet following the troop surge, as thousands of extra American troops flooded the streets of Baghdad and beyond. But that moment is gone now. The peace was less about numbers of troops but more about circumstance. Moqtada Al-Sadr didn’t want to be gunned down by Marines, so he went into hiding and told his men to back off. While his militia hibernated, the U.S. swooned over the possibility that everything was peachy in Iraq. It was hoped this hiatus would allow Iraqi politicians, like Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s coalition, the time and space needed to form some semblance of a government.

But this was all for naught. Maliki’s government couldn’t get anything done. He declared his own little jihad on Al-Sadr’s men in the city of Basra and it might as well have been a suicide mission because his pathetic Iraqi Army got the crap beaten out of it. The reason why the government took on this insane, peace-shattering and ill-advised assault is obvious: Maliki’s feeble coalition is going to be elected out of office soon. Sadr’s political wing will take its place as a majority. He was trying to kill them off. He failed and now he looks like a jackass. Moqtada looks like a victim and a strong victim at that; his men stood up to the British, the Americans, the Iraqi Army and all those other guys combined.

Moqtada is a religious figure who represents and defended the ethnic majority Shiite population when the Americans could not. He takes orders from Iranian clerics but he is very much his own man, capable of balancing the extremist sects of his militia and the more restrained members. Right now he looks golden. The next elections are going to see Maliki fall and Sadr rise.

What are the candidates saying about this? What is the plan to protect U.S. troops in this civil war? How will they act?  Sadr is no fan of the U.S. and if he gets a majority, how do Clinton and Barack plan to work with this guy? I don’t know and neither do they. George Bush is content to let this slide for as long as he can, letting probably another hundred or so soldiers die (and thousands of more civilians) until he passes the buck to a confused (I’m assuming) Democratic successor who hasn’t changed their war plan since last year. We need real policy here, not rhetoric or speeches. The voters need to know what we are going to do for our troops and for our country. Someone pass the memo to the Democrats: either get Hillary to stop worrying about poll numbers and just say what she thinks is best for the country or tell Barack to start making speeches with dates, amounts of money and troop numbers.