Clipse will probably headline Spring Fling

The Argus and the WSA corroborate what was posted here two weeks ago – there probably won’t be another headlining act for Spring Fling besides Clipse.

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Because they were running low on funds this semester (and because the economy tanked), the SBC was only able to allocate about $55,000 to the Social Committee to hire Spring Fling acts, which was less than they originally expected to receive.

Six thousand dollars were allocated to book an opening act, $14,000 for a middle act (which would have been Clipse), and $30,000 for a headliner, which is the spot that the Social Committee has been unable to fill.

But not for lack of trying – according to SBC Chair Chris Goy ’09 (via the Argus), the Social Committee talked to over 100 acts, who were either unavailable on the date or unwilling to play for $30,000, which apparently isn’t enough for many high-profile acts in this economic climate.

Including Sonic Youth, who were the frontrunners until they shot us down (even though the band members all live nearby and had no previous commitments) because they said that they no longer tour. Which is pretty disappointing, but whatever.

So far Clipse and one unconfirmed opening act (…rumors) have been booked, and the Social Committee will probably use the remaining money to book one or two smaller acts.

Oh well, don’t be too disappointed.  Clipse will be a sweet headliner, King Khan is excellent, the other act(s) will be (at the very least) decent, it’ll probably be nice out, and you will probably be drunk. Enjoy it, it’ll be great.

Here’s info from the Argus article, including more comments by Goy and Social Committee chair Max Gardner ’10, after the jump:

Chris Goy ’09, SBC Chair cites the economy as a reason for the difficulty of booking a headliner for the amount available.

“The reason why we are unlikely to have a headliner for spring fling is because there are certain markets in this economy that are recession-proof, and entertainment is one of them,” he said. “This is why prices have actually stayed constant or gone up in the entertainment business.”

Before the SBC announced its budget shortfall, it seemed likely that the Social committee would receive further funds for Spring Fling. At the end of December, some members of the SBC predicted that the Spring Fling budget would be as high as $75,000. The February 27th announcement proved that prediction wtong.

While the $55,000 budget is just $1000 less than last year’s budget, Social Committee members appear to have assumed that more funds were forthcoming. When these funds did not materialize due to the SBC’s precarious position, the Social Committee changed its approach.

“We had to start looking at bands that didn’t cost so much,” said Gardner. “We had booked two acts before [the announcement], and we had been looking to book a bigger name after that, but when we found out we might not have so much money we had to come up with a different game plan and approach it from a different angle.”

According to Goy, the difficulties in booking a headliner are mostly economic, and are not a result of a major difference in procedure this year.

[…] While $30,000 may not be enough to book a big-name act, more funds will not be forthcoming. These developments come on the heels of a SBC announcement that they are almost out of funds. The budget, which was $612,000 at the beginning of the year, was down to $60,000 at the end of February. There will be only $2,000 to $4,000 available for the SBC to allocate at their last meeting this week, and students are starting to feel the shortfall.“We have an expanded budget, which everyone seems to know about, and the phenomenon of us denying requests in order to stay afloat is one that began about 3 or 4 weeks ago,” said Goy.

Student requests that used to be granted in routine fashion are now being turned down as a result of the tight budget, students say.

[…] Goy sympathized with these students and related the increased rate of denials to the Spring Fling situation. Although Spring Fling is an essential aspect of student life, Goy noted, it ends up accounting for nearly 10% of the total yearly budget.

“I place a lot of value on the tiny stuff that we have to turn down to pay for these large ticket items,” Goy said.

He noted that in order to make sure that the small things receive funding, some bigger items may have to be cut in the future.

“We’ve developed these sort of entrenched social norms that certain things have to be done, and I don’t think they do,” he said.

He cited senior cocktails as an example of the high-cost budget items that might be reconsidered. Senior cocktails cost $82,000 this year—over 13% of the SBC’s starting budget.

Goy puts most of the blame for the SBC’s situation on the oil spike this summer, which led to a general increase in prices that lasted even after oil prices.

While raising the Student Activities Fee would prevent similar financial situations in the future, Goy is opposed to such measures.

“I think that’s a bad habit, to try and spend our way out of problems,” he said.

For the future, he suggested, more responsibility on both sides—the student body and the SBC—would be a good thing.

“I’ll be the first to admit that there is human error on both sides,” he said.

Wesleyan Argus: Headlining Act for Spring Fling Uncertain
Wesleying: Clipse may be Spring Fling headliner

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113 thoughts on “Clipse will probably headline Spring Fling”

  1. Anonymous

    I mean… I don’t know, how much of our lack of SBC funds a result of its poor management or the economy?

  2. Anonymous

    I mean… I don’t know, how much of our lack of SBC funds a result of its poor management or the economy?

  3. Anonymous

    not meaning to blame the sbc per se, but how about spending $82,000 on more independent student culture instead of assisting the senior class in dressing up and getting drunk, an event which every halloween on record has shown they are perfectly capapble of doing on their own? before we start undertaking such feats of mental gymnastics as blaming the spike in oil prices for not getting sonic youth to play spring fling (fucking bummer), maybe we should be critically assessing the priorities of how the over half a million dollars taken out of our collective tuition gets spent. i for one would much prefer getting to see one of the most important (and awesome) rock bands of the last quarter century in my back yard and the whole bevy of other shows and events that money could be supporting to the prospect of guzzling fruity drinks i nonetheless paid too much for a few times next year.

  4. Anonymous

    not meaning to blame the sbc per se, but how about spending $82,000 on more independent student culture instead of assisting the senior class in dressing up and getting drunk, an event which every halloween on record has shown they are perfectly capapble of doing on their own? before we start undertaking such feats of mental gymnastics as blaming the spike in oil prices for not getting sonic youth to play spring fling (fucking bummer), maybe we should be critically assessing the priorities of how the over half a million dollars taken out of our collective tuition gets spent. i for one would much prefer getting to see one of the most important (and awesome) rock bands of the last quarter century in my back yard and the whole bevy of other shows and events that money could be supporting to the prospect of guzzling fruity drinks i nonetheless paid too much for a few times next year.

  5. Anonymous

    not meaning to blame the sbc per se, but how about spending $82,000 on more independent student culture instead of assisting the senior class in dressing up and getting drunk, an event which every halloween on record has shown they are perfectly capapble of doing on their own? before we start undertaking such feats of mental gymnastics as blaming the spike in oil prices for not getting sonic youth to play spring fling (fucking bummer), maybe we should be critically assessing the priorities of how the over half a million dollars taken out of our collective tuition gets spent. i for one would much prefer getting to see one of the most important (and awesome) rock bands of the last quarter century in my back yard and the whole bevy of other shows and events that money could be supporting to the prospect of guzzling fruity drinks i nonetheless paid too much for a few times next year.

  6. Anonymous

    not meaning to blame the sbc per se, but how about spending $82,000 on more independent student culture instead of assisting the senior class in dressing up and getting drunk, an event which every halloween on record has shown they are perfectly capapble of doing on their own? before we start undertaking such feats of mental gymnastics as blaming the spike in oil prices for not getting sonic youth to play spring fling (fucking bummer), maybe we should be critically assessing the priorities of how the over half a million dollars taken out of our collective tuition gets spent. i for one would much prefer getting to see one of the most important (and awesome) rock bands of the last quarter century in my back yard and the whole bevy of other shows and events that money could be supporting to the prospect of guzzling fruity drinks i nonetheless paid too much for a few times next year.

  15. Anonymous

    I hope you’re being sarcastic, #6. How the fuck is this libel? It clearly quotes all the relevant sources.

    WHatever dudes, Spring Fling will be fine.

  16. Anonymous

    I hope you’re being sarcastic, #6. How the fuck is this libel? It clearly quotes all the relevant sources.

    WHatever dudes, Spring Fling will be fine.

  17. Anonymous

    I hope you’re being sarcastic, #6. How the fuck is this libel? It clearly quotes all the relevant sources.

    WHatever dudes, Spring Fling will be fine.

  18. Anonymous

    I hope you’re being sarcastic, #6. How the fuck is this libel? It clearly quotes all the relevant sources.

    WHatever dudes, Spring Fling will be fine.

  27. Anonymous

    Please take down this post immediately. No seriously, this is libelous, not true at all. I really cannot believe wesleying posted this. You have lost all my respect.

  28. Anonymous

    Please take down this post immediately. No seriously, this is libelous, not true at all. I really cannot believe wesleying posted this. You have lost all my respect.

  29. Anonymous

    Please take down this post immediately. No seriously, this is libelous, not true at all. I really cannot believe wesleying posted this. You have lost all my respect.

  30. Anonymous

    Please take down this post immediately. No seriously, this is libelous, not true at all. I really cannot believe wesleying posted this. You have lost all my respect.

  35. Anonymous

    Animal Collective begin a tour on the 11th in DC, are they really over $30,000? Can’t we just make some acid for them or something? Greatful Dead style?

  36. Anonymous

    Animal Collective begin a tour on the 11th in DC, are they really over $30,000? Can’t we just make some acid for them or something? Greatful Dead style?

  37. Anonymous

    Animal Collective begin a tour on the 11th in DC, are they really over $30,000? Can’t we just make some acid for them or something? Greatful Dead style?

  38. Anonymous

    Animal Collective begin a tour on the 11th in DC, are they really over $30,000? Can’t we just make some acid for them or something? Greatful Dead style?

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