Strong disapproval of the 2012 Block Party lineup is prompting University Union to take action.

UU will host an open forum in response to the negative reactions toward DJ and electronic artist Kaskade and indie-rock band Cold War Kids on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Complex auditorium. UU officials plan to specifically address the concern that the organization is out of touch with the student body regarding the performers it brings and how the organization spends its funding.

Members of UU’s Board of Directors plan to discuss in detail how the organization works, its main goals and tasks, the number of factors that contribute to how concerts are booked and how headlining performers are chosen.

‘The premise of the forum is to inform students on Block Party and clear up a lot of misconceptions,’ said UU President Rob Dekker. ‘We’ve seen comments ranging from people saying that UU isn’t a student organization to comments saying the concert is a multimillion-dollar concert when it’s not.’

Strong criticism against this year’s Block Party lineup prompted the creation of a hashtag, which became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter last week, about the activities students would rather do than attend the concert.

Students will be invited to ask questions at the end of the forum during a Q-and-A session. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to send their questions to uuquestions@gmail.com or tweet at UU’s Twitter handle, @UUInsider, using the hashtag #AskUU.

UU members hope to see the discussion as a way for students to voice their opinions and concerns, as well as a way for UU to provide students with a clearer explanation of how the organization operates, Dekker said.

Said Dekker: ‘It’s (the job of) an Official Programming Board to open up multiple avenues to converse with students.’

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on April 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri