By Laurie Babinski
Editor in Chief
Encounters with deer, sprinklers and mud couldn’t keep Holly Weymouth and Alissa Curda away.
The freshmen girls arrived at the main doors to Firestone Fieldhouse at 5 a.m. only to find themselves alone in the early morning, the first in line to wait for Fall Fling tickets to Knott’s Scary Farm. What they got, however, was not the usual Fall Fling tickets that include admission to a theme park, dinner and a dance.
After consideration of time constraints, lack of publicity and miscommunication within the organization, the Student Government Association decided to postpone Fall Fling, which was scheduled to accommodate 250 students Sunday at Knott’s Scary Farm, until a later date when an off-campus, Thanksgiving-themed event can be organized.
Students, some of whom were disappointed, were compensated Wednesday morning with 100 free $29 admission tickets to Knott’s Scary Farm for Sunday, a total of $2,900. The remainder of the $10,000 Fall Fling budget will be reserved for the off-campus autumn event in November.
The change, said SGA President Ben Elliott, was made to give more students the opportunity to attend, something that late notice of the event due to miscommunication within SGA and cost of the Knott’s event didn’t allow for.
According to Steve Williams, the Ocean’s 37 Special Events Director who was appointed one month before Midnight Madness, problems began when the planning of the basketball season kick-off event took planning priority over Fall Fling.
When the event was over, the timing left Ocean’s 37 with only two weeks to plan Fall Fling. Williams said that due to a “communication breakdown,” no one had been paying attention to planning the event, but that SGA members wanted to schedule it before the Nov. 3 Dashboard Confessional concert.
“I was hesitant, but SGA pushed for it, so we started working,” he said.
Williams compiled bids from several theme parks to weigh location options with cost. For the $10,000 budget, Knott’s offered an event for 250 people. Six Flags Magic Mountain bid 400 students for the same amount, and Universal Studios, which cost $16,000 for 250 students during last year’s Fall Fling.
Elliott said that SGA is “trying to break away” from spending so much money to accommodate so few students. But with the bids in, Ocean’s 37 decided that despite a lower number of tickets available, a Knott’s event would attract more interest.
SGA announced the event Monday night via Pepperdine e-mail before the contract with Knott’s was signed, but Elliott and Williams had concerns about an event that was less than a week away. Ticket distribution was slated for Wednesday morning before Convocation, but the groups decided Tuesday that their reservations, combined with student discontent about the event’s short notice, were enough to postpone an event they say was not in the students’ best interests.
“Ben’s nervous to make a mistake,” Williams said. “He wants to give more students more events for their money.”
SGA sent out a Pepperdine global e-mail explaining the situation to students.
“It is in our best interest to serve the student body as best as we can,” the e-mail signed by Williams and Elliott said. “Although the logistics seemed difficult and the number of students benefiting from this $10,000 event were less then we would have liked, we pursued the idea in hope of pleasing the student body. The Executive Board has realized the detriment of planning Fall Fling on short notice and has decided to revert to original advice, to program it later in the semester.”
Despite the inconvenience, canceling the event, Williams said, will benefit a greater number of students in the long run.
“There were only 250 students who could go (to Fall Fling),” he said. “We’re looking for a way to double that.
SGA purchased 100 discount Knott’s admission tickets through OneStop to make up for the postponed event.
The call for free admission, however, only heralded 44 students waiting in line when Williams began handing out tickets.
“If there were 250 tickets, they’d have trouble giving them away,” said senior Justin Schneider, who entered the line at about 8:15 a.m.
Some students in line were unaware of the change that was e-mailed to students less than 24 hours before SGA’s scheduled ticket distributed. But despite the alterations, the students present didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m OK with it as long as I’m getting a free ticket, and I didn’t even have to sleep out here all night,” said sophomore Linda Merritt, who sat 14th in line.
From the front of the line, Weymouth and Curda expressed the same sentiments.
“We still get free tickets. Besides, we’re practicing for Spring Fling,” Weymouth said, referring to the benefit of their brief camping experience in preparation for the all-night campout students traditionally hold waiting for spring’s Disneyland event. “It’s almost like a dress rehearsal.”
The time, date and other information regarding the Thanksgiving gathering have yet to be determined.
October 24, 2002