Editor, Daily Nexus:
I am writing in regard to a mention in the “Things to Do” calendar featured in Artsweek on Nov. 16. The article is a very nice piece about the show put on by Associated Students Program Board, starring Blackalicious and Del tha funky homosapien – that is, until the end. The last section of this article writes, “Go see them tonight. The Hub, ? p.m. Too bad tickets are outrageously priced. Thank ASPB.” This is frustrating on many levels.
The Nexus must have forgotten the first rule of journalism is to research the facts before publishing an article. To justify the ticket price to the UCSB population, I have taken the liberty of doing the Nexus’ job for them and will publish the facts.
The ticket price to the show at the Hub was $17 for students. This admission price was for a show that featured both Blackalicious and Del tha funky homosapien. Ticketmaster advertised that a performance in Los Angeles two days after the Hub show featuring only Blackalicious was $17. The very same Nexus calendar mentions a Del show happening a week later in L.A. for $17, however, there was no snide comment about the price.
To further support that this price was reasonable, students should know that ASPB had to sell 80 percent of the available tickets to even cover costs. Any profit generated goes back to the students in the form of other programs, including Extravaganza.
The lack of research is further demonstrated by the words, “? p.m.” Apart from the obscene number of flyers and posters in I.V. and on campus, there was a half-page ad for the show on the adjacent page of the newspaper. And Artsweek couldn’t figure out the time of the show?
It is disappointing to see a campus newspaper we all trust make such unfounded, unresearched, inaccurate and biased statements about an organization that they work with so closely. The Nexus did get one thing right: “thank ASPB.” Don’t thank us as Artsweek sarcastically meant it, but thank ASPB for bringing a bomb show at a very reasonable price to the UCSB Hub.
BETH ZYGIELBAUM
