Spring Break
Consider All Sides To Band Budget
Letter To The Editor
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: Commentary
Recently, the UConn Marching Band issued a request for an additional $90,526 in budget. While I did not attend the budget meeting about why such money was requested, I did spend one year in the marching band and can easily vouch for its need. Unfortunately, I feel that there is a lack of understanding, and students that support the band's proposal should see both sides of the story.
As a member of the drum line my freshman year (fall 2003), we played on the same equipment used since the early 1990s - possibly even earlier. Common knowledge in this field is to replace the equipment every four to five years for a college marching ensemble, but this was never a priority. The priority of the UConn band is to gain more members each and every year, eventually to the point where their instrumentation will include frying pans and trash lids - something already common for bands such as the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band.
The April 10 Daily Campus story, "Band Requests $90,526 Increase" mentioned the proposed budget is to keep student costs low. The band hopes to increase its already disturbingly large size by issuing new shoes and other uniform apparel for free to freshmen. However, most other college marching band members pay for shoes, gloves, shirts (which UConn "bandies" already receive for free), instrument loans, and uniform maintenance. Not only does the incoming money from students take care of the smaller expenses, the budget can then be saved for buying new equipment or replacing uniforms that are beyond repair. The members already receive college credit for the ensemble. I do not recall a class where the professor bought everyone brand new books to keep.
On the bright side of things, the marching band grows every year. For those lucky enough to not get drunk at the football game, one gets to see many interesting things happen on the field when the band takes stage, mostly because of the wonderful "jumbo-tron." In fact, it is conceivable that roughly half the members of the band do not even play during a show. Instead they count for their neighbors, or plainly walk around on the field aimlessly. Rutgers University's marching band may have only half the members of UConn's, but they provide a higher quality of entertainment, be it more sophisticated show designs or a louder sound. The current band budget was designed for a 180-member band, not the 300-member band it has become.
I apologize to the current marching band members who might find this offensive, but many of them do not understand the luxury they currently have. How many extra lunches packed for the band are found uneaten during football games or other events? How often does the band take expensive coach buses for a 20-minute trip to the football field? All of these are simple things to be considered when really trying to cut down costs. There is more than one solution to the marching band's monetary dilemma.
As a member of the drum line my freshman year (fall 2003), we played on the same equipment used since the early 1990s - possibly even earlier. Common knowledge in this field is to replace the equipment every four to five years for a college marching ensemble, but this was never a priority. The priority of the UConn band is to gain more members each and every year, eventually to the point where their instrumentation will include frying pans and trash lids - something already common for bands such as the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band.
The April 10 Daily Campus story, "Band Requests $90,526 Increase" mentioned the proposed budget is to keep student costs low. The band hopes to increase its already disturbingly large size by issuing new shoes and other uniform apparel for free to freshmen. However, most other college marching band members pay for shoes, gloves, shirts (which UConn "bandies" already receive for free), instrument loans, and uniform maintenance. Not only does the incoming money from students take care of the smaller expenses, the budget can then be saved for buying new equipment or replacing uniforms that are beyond repair. The members already receive college credit for the ensemble. I do not recall a class where the professor bought everyone brand new books to keep.
On the bright side of things, the marching band grows every year. For those lucky enough to not get drunk at the football game, one gets to see many interesting things happen on the field when the band takes stage, mostly because of the wonderful "jumbo-tron." In fact, it is conceivable that roughly half the members of the band do not even play during a show. Instead they count for their neighbors, or plainly walk around on the field aimlessly. Rutgers University's marching band may have only half the members of UConn's, but they provide a higher quality of entertainment, be it more sophisticated show designs or a louder sound. The current band budget was designed for a 180-member band, not the 300-member band it has become.
I apologize to the current marching band members who might find this offensive, but many of them do not understand the luxury they currently have. How many extra lunches packed for the band are found uneaten during football games or other events? How often does the band take expensive coach buses for a 20-minute trip to the football field? All of these are simple things to be considered when really trying to cut down costs. There is more than one solution to the marching band's monetary dilemma.
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