Thursday, October 16, 1997
Cultural Affairs Commissoner criticized for misusing funds
Money for Welcome Week bands better used elsewhere
By Stefanie Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
He has no prior experience with the Cultural Affairs office, but
Commissioner Mike Hamilton has not allowed his fledgling status to
impede his programs or decisions.
Although he had never been involved with the office, Hamilton
had prior experience as a programmer, working with the African
Student Union and on many independent projects.
As this year’s Cultural Affairs Commissioner, Hamilton has plans
to continue many of the traditional programs. He also has ideas to
change the way the programs are planned and implemented.
"My whole job was to re-evaluate Cultural Affairs … keeping it
the same but with a different feel," Hamilton said.
But while Hamilton plans to continue many of the traditional
programs that Cultural Affairs sponsors, some question his methods
and whether the commission will be successful in doing so.
Concerns have been raised that the office staff has only one
returning member.
According to Hamilton, many of last year’s staff decided not to
return because of mid-year graduation, or because they did not want
to return to the office.
There was also a new pool of talent that Hamilton wanted to pull
into the commission.
"We had some new applicants apply that really had experience,
and I wanted to give them a chance to get involved," he said.
But besides the concerns over a new and possibly inexperienced
staff, some students have questioned a few of Hamilton’s
programming decisions.
One former Cultural Affairs staff member believes the $6,000
spent on the eight bands that performed at the Welcome Week
concerts was an excessive amount.
"The average price that we pay for the free concerts is between
nothing and $1,000 dollars," according to the source.
But Hamilton believes the money spent on the two concerts was
worth it.
According to Hamilton, the eight groups that performed were
Billboard artists whose normal price tags exceed the amount that
they were paid.
Also, Hamilton feels that the money was well spent because of
the diversity and number of students who attended the two
concerts.
"My goal is to bring blacks, whites, Latinos, Asians – all these
different groups together. That’s what I paid for, and that’s what
I got," he said.
Hamilton has also been scrutinized for hiring limousines for the
four groups who played during the Wednesday noontime Welcome Week
concert.
But according to Hamilton, hiring limousines for the bands was
necessary because of the caliber of the artists, and because it
helps organizers maintain control over the concert.
"The first thing you want (is) to know the expected time of
arrival of every single artist, and you want to make sure you know
where they are at all times," Hamilton said.
Also, he added, in some cases, record labels required hotel and
ground transportation for certain bands.
However, last year’s Cultural Affairs Commissioner Jaime Nack,
who also booked artists during her term in office, does not see any
time when it would be necessary to hire limousines.
"Bands are dying to come to this campus and perform because it’s
great exposure," Nack said.
"Not only are the record companies pushing the artists, but the
artists want to come too. They want the college audience, so you
don’t need to coax them to UCLA," she added.
Hamilton maintains that he did not misuse funds, and members of
the undergraduate student council (USAC) are backing him up. Rather
than dwell on the criticisms, however, Hamilton prefers to focus on
his future plans for the office.
Hamilton believes that last year, the commission held good
programs but focused too much on spring quarter events like
WorldFest and the Jazz and Reggae Festival.
This year, Hamilton and his staff are working on holding more
visible programs which will draw attention and large audiences
throughout the entire year.
"The money is being used for things that students can see," he
said.
Another aspect that Hamilton wants to change is the way Cultural
Affairs outreaches to different groups and entities on campus.
Hamilton felt that last year’s commission did not do enough
co-programming with other groups.
To start the year off in the direction Hamilton intended, his
office worked with other student groups to organize Welcome Week
activities.
The third day of Welcome Week activities included an evening
concert designed specifically to target on-campus residents. It was
also an opportunity for USAC to co-program with the On Campus
Housing Council.
Other programs Hamilton plans on making larger through outreach
are WorldFest and the Jazz and Reggae Festival, scheduled to take
place during spring quarter.
He believes that with the involvement of other entities on
campus, the two events will be bigger, with a larger attendance,
and the events will be done without having to spend more money than
last year.
"We plan on getting a lot more student groups involved,"
Hamilton said.
"Anytime you’re dealing with student groups, the amount you
spend doesn’t go up because it’s (activities) that they want to be
involved in," he added.