Can't count on Union Board

For the second time in three years, the cancellation of a Union Board-sponsored concert has left music fans at IU standing out in the cold. Friday afternoon, two days after ticket sales officially began, Counting Crows canceled the last half of their U.S. tour, including an Oct. 30 show at the IU Auditorium. The band's management blamed scheduling conflicts for the cancellation. Union Board concerts director Andy Proctor, a senior, told the IDS that the cancellation "in no way reflects on Union Board." \nUB can not be made to shoulder all the blame for a band canceling several concerts set to happen at several different venues. But this incident, like the cancellation of the 1999 Tom Petty concert, is just another reflection of the lack of communication and responsibility on the part of UB directors when planning for a big campus event.\nOne of the oldest chartered student organizations on campus, UB is put in charge of thousands of dollars in student fees, which they use to schedule events like the Counting Crows concert. Two years ago, the Tom Petty concert scheduled to take place at Assembly Hall was canceled on the day of the show because UB said stage hands could not rig Petty's elaborate set in time for the performance. A complicated stage isn't UB's fault, either. But not taking the time to check and make sure erecting the set was possible is. As is not taking the time to communicate with management for Counting Crows to ensure either the show would go on or that it wouldn't be called off after 2,000 tickets had already been sold.\nSixteen student directors are chosen for UB each year. Eight are picked through an on campus election and eight are selected through an interview process. Specific knowledge or experience about how to schedule a concert or manage a large-scale event is not a prerequisite to submit an application. Students must simply be in good academic standing and not graduate before a specific date. After being selected, Proctor told the IDS that incoming directors go on a leadership retreat "where knowledge is passed down from past directors." Hopefully, these 16 students are being given more information before thousands of student dollars are put under their control. If not, the Counting Crows and Tom Petty situations show these students should at least be given more guidance from graduate or professional advisors. Very public cancellations like these two concerts show some improvements to the system need to be made.