Genevieve Frye, KPU Director
For those of us who were around for Michael Gorbechev and the infamous, "If you could be any animal..." question, KPU would have to bring in some seriously big names to seem really impressive. No doubt, this year brought some great speakers: Wesley Clark, Bob Dole and Madeleine Albright, to name a few. But even this impressive lineup seemed a bit uninspiring. While their speeches were maybe moving, or perhaps offered teachable anecdotes and took on pressing issues, they fell short of starting a true buzz or dialogue among students. What one might consider a "politician" in the truest sense of the word looks impressive on posters, but in reality doesn't necessarily enthrall everyone on campus. Two of the year's most interesting events were actually the two women who debated feminism. The names were hardly recognizable, but the things they had to say were far from dull.
While we recognize the challenges of attracting the biggest names to speak at AU with a limited budget, the fact we are in the nation's capital means that often the job is already done; the speakers generally come to Washington on their own accord, KPU just has to close the deal and bring them to campus.
Next year's director, Taylor Robinson, should keep up the good work with finding the big names, but concentrate on bringing speakers who appeal to a greater cross-section of students, not just those with the White House or the Senate in their dreams. Some sort of poll or other method of getting campus-wide input on speakers would also be well received.
Eric Friedlander, SUB Director
What an act The Roots were. Too bad the same can't be said for every other band SUB brought this year. Sure, Jared Leto's band has a certain amount of kitsch value, but we doubt many students rearranged their evening plans to be able to crowd the Tavern for a glimpse.
The problem is that good bands aren't cheap, and the school doesn't exactly make it easy to book a show in our most obvious venue (It charges a $15,000 fee to open Bender for a concert, plus SUB still has to pay the band). And why would a band want to play Bender anyway when it could play a small venue in D.C. instead? However, SUB does have a sizeable budget, one that at least allows for a decent show each semester, and then a few smaller names in the Tavern. Not one BIG show and a bunch of no names in the Tavern afterward.
We do commend SUB on the choices for its SUB cinema shows, which truly offered students a wide range of semi-newly released films.
Incoming SUB Director George Eveleth could benefit from student polling or suggestions to come up with a broader range of acts, and seek to appeal to a larger range of interests.