“Man, I think it’s the administration’s fault.”

“No, well, obviously the Student Government hasn’t taken an active role in fixing the problems.”

Tailgating? Tickets? Guess again. It’s the time of year to stop complaining about all the legitimate issues on campus and start complaining about, you guessed it, Homecoming. Specifically, let’s beat the rush and start complaining about the Homecoming band.

In case you haven’t noticed my sarcasm yet, I’m being critical of people that complain about the fact that the Pack Howl concert doesn’t attract big-name bands.

First of all, let me first declare that the concept of a “big-name” band is extremely relative. One man’s trash is another’s treasure: I’m sure that to some kid cooped up in a back room in the Tri-Towers, Godspeed You! Black Emperor playing in Reynolds would be the coolest thing since the new World of Warcraft expansion.

OK, OK, I understand what students really mean when they say they want somebody big: they mean they want somebody in the mainstream of college-popular music, an artist that will appeal to a wide portion of the campus community. In other words, not Crossfade, right?

It seems like a reasonable expectation at the outset. The Pack Howl committee has a whole year to plan the concert, certainly they can get their act together to score a cool show.

While a year’s worth of planning can go a long way, it won’t take you as long as a stack of cold cash — which is exactly what Homecoming, by today’s standards, doesn’t have. If we want a big-name concert for November, we first have to ask ourselves where the money is going to come from.

In the past, Student Government contributed a significant chunk of change to the Alumni Association to support Homecoming ($15,000 in 2003 and 2004). This year Student Government hasn’t contributed financially to Homecoming. Should Student Government be held responsible for the lack of Homecoming funding?

I should think not. The fact of the matter is that Student Government doesn’t fundamentally have any say in the process of planning Homecoming. While the Student Homecoming Committee as a group is open to all-comers, the committee and each of its sub-committees (Pack Howl included) are invariably led by Student Ambassadors for the Alumni Association: effectively, the Alumni Association is calling the shots.

Now, don’t get me wrong here — I’m not saying this is a bad thing. The Alumni Association is footing the bill, and they have a vested interest in Homecoming that goes beyond student involvement: they want to see Alumni have a good time in Raleigh. It is the responsibility of the Alumni Association to oversee the program they are funding, just as it would be the responsibility of the Student Government to have an oversight role of Homecoming if they were pumping it with student fees. If Student Government were still committing operational money to Homecoming, the conflicting authority would be counterproductive. In terms of money and responsibility, things are pretty good as they are right now with only the Alumni Association in charge.

So where do we turn to find the problem? Certainly something must have gone slightly wrong with the Homecoming committee if it’s two weeks before the event and we still don’t have a definite band. Of course we probably won’t get a big-name, but we shouldn’t have realistically expected a major show to begin with. I think the delay has more to do with the difficulty of finding a recognizable band for the smallest amount of money possible than anything else. Fine by me; I’d personally rather Homecoming shell out tens of thousands of bucks on us students than on some middle-of-the-road band. If the concert sucks, oh well: at least I got a free t-shirt!

Not only is it hard to find a decent band with a relatively small amount of money, it is just as hard to find a good agent. Low buying power will translate to a low commission, so it is difficult to find an agent that will work hard for you when you can’t afford to pay a hefty commission. Thus, the situation we find ourselves in now is, to a certain extent, unavoidable. The only surefire solution is to drastically increase the amount of money we’re willing to pay for a band, and everyone knows that money doesn’t grow on trees.

There are so many important things that need to be complained about here at N.C. State. Problems with tailgating and football tickets have sources that can be directly attributed to failures and attitudes of particular administrators and changes in the campus community. The newly-revised alcohol policy and its possible consequences (Design School Halloween Bash) certainly deserve every student’s critical attention. On the other hand, a week long celebration that is (mostly) planned by students for the benefit of students and — for the large part — not paid for by students merits little criticism. If nothing else, have fun when you can during Homecoming and if something bothers you, plan to become involved in next year’s Homecoming committee.

Tell Ball just how wrong he is at [email protected].