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wednesday, September 11, 2013
FAKE FEST 2013
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Volume 63 No. 7
Juan D. Pinzon, The Spectrum
Christopher Riddick (right) and roommate Winger Ruiz (left) were just faces in the crowd until they pranked their way to on-campus fame – or infamy – Monday with a disingenuous poster for Fall Fest 2013.
Students create buzz on campus with phony Fall Fest posters
Sophomore Christopher Riddick made a convincing fake Fall Fest 2013 poster (left) with the Fall Fest 2012 poster as his guide. He hung just 20 copies around campus, but it was enough to have the community confused.
MAX CRINNIN
Senior Arts Editor
What impact can 20 pieces of paper have on an entire college campus? Christopher Riddick knows. The $1.60 charge on his print queue seems a small price to pay for the attention his fake Fall Fest posters garnered on campus Monday. The Student Association has confirmed that the Fall Fest lineup as Riddick listed it (A$AP Rocky, Drake and Big Sean) will not be the lineup for the Oct. 13 concert. It all started when Riddick woke up on Sunday with nothing to do. “I mostly did it because I was bored,” Riddick said. “I felt like it’d be interesting to see if people would believe it. Also, [SA] is taking way too long to announce [the lineup], so I thought maybe if I did this, they would get somebody better than whoever they are gonna get.” Riddick and his roommate, Winger Ruiz, both sophomore undecided majors, spent Sunday morning in their Red Jacket
dorm plotting the prank, piecing together a lineup they felt would seem believable, yet almost too good to be true. Artists they considered included Jadakiss, Pusha T, Fabolous and other bigname hip-hop acts. At first, Riddick was choosing names he liked or thought would be funny, but then he began to realize that a perfectly compiled list could actually trick a lot of people into thinking his posters were real. Riddick took point on the operation and Ruiz tagged along every step of the way. In just one hour, Riddick was able to find an online program that would allow him to design, and complete, a poster that he modeled after last year’s official Fall Fest flyer, which he found using Google. He then accidentally deleted his original copy, but it only took an extra 10 minutes to completely finish the one he ended up posting around campus. Riddick headed to Capen Library with his design and printed 20 copies. He meant to print 40, but he did not realize
they would come out double-sided. Undeterred, he made his way from Capen to the Student Union, hitting every bulletin board along the way. By midnight Monday morning, Riddick’s deed was done, and he went home anxious to see what kind of impression his posters would leave the following day. On his walk to class the next morning, he was shocked to see that all of his posters had been taken down. Hours before Riddick was even awake to watch his plot unravel, SA Vice President Lyle Selsky received a photo message of the poster from one of his fraternity brothers. Amidst his shock and rage, Selsky rushed to form a crew of SA members to take the posters down immediately. Selsky knew the posters created expectations that SA cannot meet, and many of his SA coworkers were enraged by the prank. Worried that the hype from a “too good to be true” lineup would only lead to disappointment when the real lineup was announced, they managed to take
down the posters less than 12 hours after they were posted, but the damage was done. “It will disappoint students if that’s not what [the lineup] is,” Selsky said. “We want to make sure we put out the truth and give students what they need instead of putting up fake documents.” Rumors surrounding A$AP coming to Fall Fest had been circling for weeks already, and Riddick’s posters only added fuel to the fire. Twitter exploded with excitement and praise that SA had managed to pull off such an impressive lineup. Most of the hype circled around Drake, whom Riddick added to his list after remembering a UB Rumors tweet he saw months ago stating Drake would be performing at Fall Fest. A few clever students immediately called the chance of Drake performing at UB into question due to the high demand and price for his act along with a conflicting tour schedule already listed for the fall, but many thought the posters were real. SEE FAKE FEST, PAGE 2
Students await Fall Fest announcement SA members start petition Some are frustrated acts have not been revealed to impeach SA president
RACHEL KRAMER
Asst. Arts Editor
The Student Association has designated approximately $390,000 for Fall Fest and Spring Fest combined, but it has yet to announce who will be performing at the Oct. 13 Fall Fest concert. Some students are getting frustrated. Rumors circulating the annual event started with the release of the official date on Sept. 1 at the Reel Big Fish concert. After announcing Fall Fest would be held on Oct. 13, SA President Nick Johns said, “We’ll release the lineup ASAP.” This was the beginning of the A$AP Rocky rumor. SA officials have neither confirmed nor denied the presence of A$AP Rocky in the Fall Fest lineup. SA Vice President Lyle Selsky confirmed there will be four acts, three from the hip-hop genre and one “mash-up DJ similar to White Panda.” That is all the information SA is allowed to release at the moment because the artists’ contracts are not signed, Selsky said. The contracts were sent to Marc Rosenblitt, SA’s entertainment coordinator, via email on Monday. Once they are approved, sent back to the artists and signed, SA can release the names of the acts. Rosenblitt wants students to get ex-
Courtesy of Brock Brake
A$AP Rocky is one act rumored to be attending Fall Fest, but the Student Association has not yet released the lineup. Some students are frustrated with the delay.
cited about who is coming, but SA is “stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he said. Selsky agrees. “I’m itching to tell everyone about the event and to be able to say, ‘look, these people are coming,’” Selsky said. “I preach patience because I know now it sucks, but knowing [who is performing] earlier won’t change the fact that the date is still Oct. 13. So, either way, you’ll be
waiting a month for the event.” They both believe the show will be worth the wait. Julie Safaty, a senior health and human services major, is doubtful. “Fall Fest usually sucks so I never go,” she said. “I would go this year because it’s my senior year. But I want to know because there’s a Bills game that day and I need to know if I should get tickets for that instead.” SEE FRUSTRATION, PAGE 2
Student Association Entertainment Director Erin Lachaal reported she and other SA members have received about 1,500 signatures in their effort to impeach SA President Nick Johns. This week, SA members circulated a petition throughout the Student Union and other areas on campus to collect the 2,541 student signatures needed to impeach Johns. In order for a successful effort, they must collect the names and person numbers f the students and give the list to Student Life to be verified. Then, if the list is proven valid, the movement will go the Student-Wide Judiciary, which will review the claims before finalizing the decision. If the accept the motion, Johns will be immediately removed from office and SA Vice President Lyle Selsky will be names interim president – while also being vice president – until a “special election” takes place. Students seeking to run for president will need 200 signatures and person numbers from students. Lachaal hopes SA will receive the necessary number of signatures by the end of the week. Email: news@ubspectrum.com