ASUNM group holds more events with less money

sozden@unm.edu

This year ASUNM Student Special Events put on more events with less money compared to 2011.

SSE received $108,000 for FY 2011, according to the ASUNM funding request reports. SSE received about $105,000 for FY 2012 and for FY 2013 SSE will receive $101,000.

SSE Executive Director Vanessa Atler said SSE was able to host 108 events this year compared to 95 2011. She said the focus was adding new events and catering to as many student special interests as possible.

“This year we wanted to think outside the box, and I noticed that we’ve never had any sort of sport-related event so we decided to host a visit from NFL player Demaryius Thomas (earlier this semester),” she said. “We had to find someone that the students would want to see but that we could still afford.”

SSE Speakers Director Amir Chapel said Thomas’ visit cost about $5,500, which included a $4,800 speaking fee and advertisement and security costs. Chapel said the speaker fee was under his $5,000 budget.

“I had to find someone that was under the radar enough that we could afford, but popular enough that students would actually want to see,” he said. “Some football players cost over $70,000 in speaking fees alone, which we obviously can’t budget for … unfortunately sports figures are expensive.”

SSE adviser Ryan Lindquist said the organization has to defend the budget every year and does not host events that don’t interest students. He said Fiestas, an all-day outdoor concert, was discontinued but brought back after SSE restructured the event to include cultural acts and organization booths.

Lindquist said events are usually free and SSE only charged for one event this year, $5 to see comedian Josh Blue.

“If an event is a little more expensive but we know the turnout will be great, then we’ll charge a minimal fee for it in order to not lose too much money,” he said. “Sometimes we have to be able to recuperate the funds so that we can host other events throughout the year.”

Lindquist said about 650 people attended the Josh Blue event, some of whom had cerebral palsy, which also affects Blue. Lindquist said other organizations attended the event to spread awareness about cerebral palsy.

Chapel said every event the organization hosts has an educational component.

“We want everyone that comes to our events to walk away with something informative,” he said. “And we try to include every demographic we can think of to make sure no one is left out.”

SSE Promotions Director Sean Trauth said the organization hosts Noon Time, an outdoor entertainment event, every Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. He said that during the event, SSE polls students to find out where students’ interests lie.

“We don’t just do what we want, we don’t do anything without taking public opinion into consideration,” he said. “Then we have to take artist fees, lighting, sound, venue and advertisement costs into consideration.”

Chapel said even with decreased funding, the organization is able to co-sponsor events hosted by other organizations, such as the Mexican Student Association’s Day of the Dead celebration.

“We’d love to have half a million dollars to bring in the events students really want to see and to help out all the organizations we can,” he said. “But even if ASUNM wanted to give it to us, they’d have to deduct it from funding for other organizations and that’s just not right.”