Monday, October 6, 1997
USAC co-sponsors block party at Sunset Village
PARTY: Two groups work together despite snafus, reach out to
freshmen
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Contributor
It’s a miracle this party happened at all.
Despite numerous logistical setbacks, the block party,
co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government (USAC) and the
On-Campus Housing Council (OCHC), was a rousing success, drawing
hundreds of residents to Sunset Village Commons Thursday night.
"We overcame some hurdles and we’re confident that the (party)
will be successful," said USAC Internal Vice-President Carol Lee
the day before the event.
Estimates put the number of students present at around 200
during the party’s peak, which was not a bad showing considering
Thursday night is typically the night of many fraternity
parties.
Those students who resisted the lure of goings-on at Fraternity
Row were rewarded with performances from hip-hop acts such as
Daughter’s Eve, Delinquent Habits, The Mexikanz and K-born.
But before Block Party success could be achieved, USAC and OCHC
had to find a way to work out all of the details involved in
putting it together.
"We’ve never put together an event like this before," Lee
said.
"We’ve also never done an event on the hill," she continued.
USAC first approached OCHC with a proposition that the two
program an event designed to reach out to first-year students who
aren’t too familiar with the campus yet.
"We thought that the hill would be an ideal place to do this,"
Lee said.
But USAC and OCHC had two different views of what it meant to
"co-program" an event.
"We went to them with a general plan, with the idea that we
would work out all the specifics together," said Lee’s Chief of
Staff Elizabeth Geyer. "But OCHC always wanted USAC to do
everything."
OCHC officials could not be reached by press time. According to
one source, though, OCHC Advisor and Assistant Director of Program
Services Cheryl Sims said that USAC was the one that dropped the
ball, by neglecting to communicate with OCHC.
USAC also footed nearly all of the bill for the party, over
$2000. OCHC put up $150 to defray the cost of hiring Community
Service Officers for the night.
Part of USAC’s goal this year is to work closely with other
campus groups to enhance programs all around and to save costs for
all involved. Other groups that USAC has worked with so far include
the Student Alumni Association and Bruin Belles.
"We really want to reach out to a variety of students," Lee
said, "and working with other student groups is a good way to do
this."
Most students at the Block Party didn’t seem to be concerned
about all the snafus that had occurred before the party could
become a reality.
"I’m just here for the music," said first-year student Javier
Hernandez.
The performers didn’t seem to care either, and spontaneous acts
of improvised rapping between Delinquent Habits and K-Born
displayed a West-Coast/East-Coast harmony rarely seen in hip-hop
acts.
Students also didn’t worry about the fact that most of the music
heard Thursday night would not have been allowed at any of the
residence hall front desks, cheering just as loudly for the
obscenity-laced songs as those without.
But despite all the obstacles encountered on the way to throwing
the party, USAC is optimistic about working on programs with other
campus groups in the future.
"We learned a lot about working together," Lee said.
USAC members have hinted that they would be interested in
working with OCHC in the future on a co-programming basis, but no
such comment could be received from OCHC, since they have not
officially held a council meeting since the event.