Lately, I've become interested in the problem of student life on this campus. UTD isn't exactly known for being a school where raging good times are had by all, and I've been trying to figure out why.
When I first sat down to write this editorial, I started from an angry mindset. I returned to my office in the Student Union from SAE's Rock the Campus for the Cure wondering why the event wasn't better attended.
SAE put on a fine show. The bands were excellent, the forum was good and the sound system was respectable. It was one of the best rock shows I've been to in Dallas outside of Deep Ellum, and easily topped anything I've seen in Richardson. A nice added bonus was that I didn't have to go to Deep Ellum, a place I haven't been back to since I was almost carjacked there three years ago.
The question I had in my mind was simply, "What does it take to get UTD to show up for an on-campus event?" SAE booked fantastic bands, charged a very reasonable price and much of the money they raised went to their charity, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It seemed like an event that should have been an all-campus rocker.
Instead, I had ample elbowroom to stand right in front of the amplifier stacks, jotting notes.
So, why is it so hard to put on a really big event at UTD? Why is it so hard to get people involved?
I don't think it's the quality of the events themselves. Rock the Campus clearly illustrates that UTD doesn't suffer from a lack of places to get involved, go out and have a good time. The headliner for the event, "The Vanished," even gets radio play on 102.1 KDGE, so surely it isn't a lack of exposure.
Some administrators I have spoken with suggest that students simply don't want to come to campus on a weekend. I buy that to a certain point, but Waterview Park is full of students, where were they?
I also spoke with SUAAB adviser Jonathan 'GNO' White. He expressed concerns similar to mine, noting one particular incident where an independent film of note was shown at UTD to a small crowd, but the same film packed a house to the point of overflow in Denton.
White told me the best way to get students to an event is good promotion.
However, on-campus promotion really only works if the students hang around campus long enough to see it.
UTD is still, at its core, a commuter school. Perhaps the lack of a cohesive center is what keeps student life around here from really hitting. Maybe we're just too spread out.
Perhaps it's also our lifestyle. I get the sense that UTD is a workaholic school. I don't know many students here who do not have jobs. I have two of them, myself. Almost every member of my staff has a job outside the newsroom, too.
Tuition at UTD is not cheap, and many students must work to make ends meet. This could also contribute to the difficulty in getting students to show up for big events. They might just be too tired, or they might be at work.
Still, I have a sneaking suspicion that there's something else operating here. I get the feeling that a lot of people at UTD simply don't want to make the effort to go out and get involved with events on campus. However, it would be intellectually lazy, not to mention insulting and rude, just to say, "UTD is filled with losers who just sit indoors and play video games all the time."
Besides, some people are perfectly happy interacting with people in virtual spaces, and there's nothing unacceptable about that.
So what is it, UTD? What's holding us back? I think this is a conversation that we need to have. Do me a favor and drop by the forum for this article at our web site, tell me why you think student life just won't take off.
