Recently, while spending time on campus, I have come to realize the plethora of activity that arises when there is nothing else to do.
When classes are over for the day and half of our campus travels home for the weekend, things really start to happen.
For instance, on the weekend of Jan. 20, Eastern was bold enough to bring in two fantastic singer/songwriters for the pleasure and satisfaction of music lovers across the campus. Denison Witmer and Regina Spektor made their appearances and performed splendidly.
But Eastern isn’t stopping there. Over the next few months, activities will continue to be in abundance.
Weekly showings of unreleased movies, awesome comedy acts, and a frenzy of musicians will be taking the stage for the entertainment of students.
Unfortunately, I seem to have confused campuses.
Regrettably, none of the above-mentioned activities will be occurring on our campus.
Disappointed? Yeah, me too.
The element of this twisted editorial that makes this news even more dismaying is that Messiah College, our comparable cohort, is the campus that is home to these activities.
Over the course of the semester, Messiah plans to host acts such as Dave Bazan, of the former band Pedro the Lion; Sam Beam of Iron and Wine; The Decemberists and at least four other bands who are lesser-known but on the rise.
It’s not only the music scene at Messiah that puts Eastern’s activities to shame. Understandably, not everyone enjoys live music, so what about movies?
Every weekend for the entire semester, Messiah College is showing movies that have yet to be released on DVD.
How much does it cost? To see a film at Messiah College, a student has to fork out a colossal one dollar.
The films are all box office raves. The list includes Marie Antoinette, The Departed, Babel, Stranger Than Fiction, Pursuit of Happyness, Children of Men and Letters from Iwo Jima to mention a few.
On top of these activities, Messiah offers weekly coffeehouses at their student center and special activities each semester. This semester, Messiah is bringing in comedic talent Brian Regan.
Whether or not students at Eastern enjoy these activities is beside the point. The point is that students at Messiah have the ability to choose something to do.
You might hate live music or despise popular movies, or maybe you really just loathe Brian Regan.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter. What does Eastern’s Student Activities Board have to offer that is comparable?
As much as I enjoyed drinking root beer floats, playing Pictionary and watching the lead singer of the former Five Iron Frenzy become evidence as to why the sluggish Christian music scene is so unappealing, I think I would prefer a little live music from some of the best indie rock acts around.
What about the cost of such acts as these? After seeing Regina Spektor and Denison Witmer at Messiah no more than three weeks ago, I happened to run into someone on the Student Activities Board at Messiah College.
Upon discovering her identity, I asked her a simple question about the cost of one such performance.
She responded by telling me that the total cost of both acts at Messiah was less than fifty thousand dollars, which is an extremely low price for such a concert.
With this information in mind, I wonder, where does our money go?