Vol. 61 NO. 16
ubspectrum.com
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Rebuilding the Lines of Communication: Post Fall Fest Announcement Student Association reaching out to students
The Student Association hopes students will fill Alumni Arena to watch The Fray at Fall Fest.
REBECCA BRATEK News Editor UB wanted Drake. Instead, it gets The Fray. According to survey results from the Student Association, Drake should be the student choice for Fall Fest after he gained 1,285, or 42.8 percent, of about 3,000 undergraduate votes.
Matthew parrino /// the spectrum
Among the questions, SA asked what genre of show students preferred (a mixed show of hip-hop and rock, with 25.4 percent of votes), how many artists the show should feature (three, according to 41.7 percent of votes), and if students would attend an off-site Fall Fest (41.4 percent of students said yes and 37.7 percent said yes, if transportation was provided). But, the main question remained: who to bring as a headliner?
The Fray, on the other hand, was eighth on the list of 19 acts, after receiving 565, or 18.3 percent, of student votes. Even though the band wasn’t the top choice, it became the “student choice” for this year’s Fall Fest, along with The White Panda and 2AM Club. The Survey
“I transferred from Brockport and what they do is put out a survey [for their concerts] and whoever is number one is who you go after,” said Monique Mattes, the entertainment director for SA. “And that’s something I want to implement here but because of the timing of all this, I wanted to see how it worked for Fall Fest and at least get ideas.”
As The Spectrum reported on Monday, 75 percent of students that posted on SA’s Facebook after the announcement responded negatively to the decision.
The list was compiled by Brandon Davis, SA’s former talent coordinator, and he looked at what acts were possible budget-wise, and whether or not they were touring at the time. Davis left his position at SA on the first day of the fall semester, for unrelated reasons. Cory Riskin, the assistant talent coordinator, has worked to fill the gap and works with the talent SA signs.
Yet, only 3,000 out of UB’s nearly 18,000 undergraduate students took the time to vote – only 16 percent in fact. The survey for Fall Fest was sent out via email to all undergraduate students on June 22 and was made available to all students on SA’s Facebook page.
The list included 19 acts for students to choose from and asked students to rank acts from their top choice
to their fourth choice – a total of four votes per student in the headliner category. The top eight choices, according to student votes, respectively: Drake, Nicki Minaj, Maroon 5, MGMT, Deadmau5, Snoop Dogg, Trey Songz, and The Fray. The results and the actions According to Mattes, Drake was attainable and within SA’s budget – he just wasn’t available on the Fest dates given to the SA by university officials. “The problem was that we knew we weren’t having an outside concert [open to the public] – it was going to be limited to 6,000 students,” Mattes said. “We didn’t think it was fair for the amount of money that we would be paying [Drake] to limit it to only 6,000 students.” Nicki Minaj, after more research, was out of SA’s budget range. Mattes recognized the error, and conceded that the female performer shouldn’t have been on the list. Maroon 5, MGMT, Deadmau5, and Trey Songz were all artists that were unavailable to perform once dates were finalized. Snoop Dogg, the No. 6 choice, played at a fest in 2007 – something that was problematic for the event planning: he was crossed off as a potential act.
Kress Saves Volleyball Program BRIAN JOSEPHS Sports Editor
Kress accepted the position and immediately fell in love with his new job.
Todd Kress’ mission was clear when he was hired as Buffalo’s coach in 2009: save a dying volleyball program.
“I absolutely loved working with studentathletes and helping them get better in all aspects and I haven’t looked back since,” Kress said. “I have no regrets and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
Toward the end of last season, that mission was set off course: his mother was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. Despite this and other challenges, obstacles, and tribulations, Kress – as well as his devoted players – have stuck to their mission. It is this sort of perseverance that has taken Kress to where he is now – the respected, nononsense coach of an up-and-coming Division I volleyball team – from his humble beginnings. Journey to Buffalo Despite his current achievements, a coaching job wasn’t originally Kress’ aspiration. Although he played club volleyball during college, Kress wanted to work in the television and broadcasting fields after he graduated from the University of Cincinnati. He was already being interviewed for jobs in the profession when he received a call from Darrell McLean, former head coach of Thomas More College’s Division III volleyball team. McLean offered Kress an assistant coaching job after seeing him play for the Bearcats.
Weather for the Week: Wednesday: Sunny - H: 64, L: 42 Thursday: Sunny - H: 64 L: 46 Friday: Sunny - H: 71, L: 55
“There’s probably a dozen to two dozen departments, at UB and outside companies, involved in throwing every fest,” said Chris Noll, senior production manager for SA. “To most students on campus, Fest is a one-day show. To production guys it’s two to three months lead-up work and the show is actually three days.” Noll went on to explain the three days of the show – load in day, the day of the show, and move out day. This three-day period allows leeway and time for all those involved to get the things done that make the show run smoothly. The university controls the date of the show – SA uses university facilities for the show and, in turn, must comply with the dates offered to it. Unfortunately, Alumni Arena, the location reserved usually for rain dates for the event, was being renovated at the beginning of the semester. The projected end
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SSAA Battles Against Domestic Violence The prevention of domestic violence has become a major theme across the United States. At UB, one group looks to combat rape and domestic violence. The Student Survivor Advocacy Alliance (SSAA) was formed in 2006 with the goal of educating the public about domestic abuse issues and preventing future instances of domestic abuse. By teaming with Wellness Education Services, the two programs have made progress toward that goal. “We know that the numbers can change, but they’re not going to change by themselves,” said Anna Peryea, a violence prevention specialist with Wellness Education Services.
“They never gave up and they worked hard for everything that they got,” Kress said. “I realized that I could put those same core values in my life and in my coaching.
Previous groups dealing with domestic violence have focused more on aiding those who were abused. There were no groups on campus and only a few groups around the country that dealt with the activism side of the issue.
After a stint working beneath McLean as an assistant, Kress landed his first job as a head coach in 1995 with a struggling Fairfield University team. By the time Kress left in 1998, the once-lowly squad had won two conference championships.
“[Previous groups] weren’t a good way for survivors to get involved,” Peryea said, “[They] weren’t tailored to [a survivors] needs.” SSAA is not only geared toward women or survivors of domestic violence; it is open to all of UB. Melissa Piciulo, a graduate student interning in the Wellness Education Services, joined the group a few weeks. Although she has never been abused, she is no stranger to the issue. Both of Piciulo’s sisters were abused by their boyfriends, and her
Kress moved on to coach at Northern Illinois, and his three years with the program yielded similar results: in 2001, he led the Huskies to a MAC championship and coached the MAC player of the year.
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After SA pursued the first seven options, The Fray was next in line and was the first act that was able to comply Fall Fest – according to the university
MARCENE ROBINSON Staff Writer
Kress’ emphasis on hard work developed from his childhood in Dayton, Ohio. He grew up in a low-income household and watched as his parents struggled. Their endurance through those tough times inspires Kress’ coaching philosophy to this day.
Kress’ longest tenured coaching job came at
SA doesn’t want to feature the same artists more than one time in a four-year period because students are generally here for four years, according to SA President JoAnna Datz.
Head coach Todd Kress has led the Bulls to the MAC Quarterfinals in his last two seasons. Nyeri Moulterie /// The Spectrum
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