After two months of conflicting HUB Governing Board decisions and attempts made by ASUCR representatives to co-host the Heat Music Festival with Spring Splash, the Associated Students Program Board (ASPB) will host an extended Spring Splash for the spring 2016 quarter.
At the ASUCR meeting on Jan. 27, a vote was held to overturn ASPB’s decision (that was made after the HUB Governing Boards vote on Jan.11) — which declined to collaborate with the HUB — in order to co-host Heat and Spring Splash together on the same day. Only three ASUCR representatives, President Pro Tempore Corey Willis and senators Alan Alcantara and Wen-Yu Chou, voted to overturn this decision, which failed with a vote of 3-10-0.
As part of a compromise made between ASUCR and ASPB, the name Heat will not be in the title of the concert; however, ASPB will receive $200,000 in funds from the cancelled performance. As part of Article 8 in the ASUCR bylaws, “ASUCR shall have the right to overrule and govern any board decisions by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Senators present, when quorum exists.”
“Spring Splash isn’t going anywhere, so even incorporating the other elements, like Spring Splash is the event like the internal culture and the pride behind it, all of that is staying the same,” Willis argued, in favor of placing Heat in the title. “It would just be incorporating other elements and if you’re talking about identity, it’s arguable that Spring Splash’s identity is already being compromised … in terms of the fact that you’re incorporating elements that are already unique to Heat … it isn’t like Spring Splash has these elements so this wouldn’t be a uniquely Spring Splash event.”
Eduardo Boror, the chairperson for ASPB questioned Willis’ desire to put Heat in the title, stating, “Under my understanding, we’re already putting in all of this effort; just to slap on Heat on the poster. What does that do for anyone? That’s my question. How is that helping the students?”
Willis then mentioned a survey sent out by ASUCR Vice President of Finance Shafi Karim, which asked students if they would like to reschedule Heat during spring quarter. “Students didn’t ask for a necessarily longer event, they specifically asked for Heat … and that is the big sticking point for me … and I don’t know if that (having an extended Spring Splash) was an option on the survey.”
“In terms of transparency for the students and the student body, we’re more than willing to let them know where the funding is coming from, it’s coming from Heat … I don’t see how this isn’t a compromise already seeing how we’re taking on this load, that shouldn’t have been placed on us in the first place,” Boror explained.
Boror continued to elaborate, “We were never placed into a position where we had agreed upon Heat in order to get those funds. We could still plan Spring Splash without the (extra) funding and given the students as Spring Splash just like every other year. WIth the additional funds we’re trying to do something better for the students. It’s not gonna be Heat; it’s Spring Splash. I don’t see how selling it to the students like ‘Hey you’re still getting Heat’, that’s just lying to them.”
Senator Casey Thielhart addressed issues with the survey, explaining, “In the survey, 92 percent said that they want both Heat and Spring Splash. I think that has been grossly misinterpreted … They don’t want one music festival with both names. I feel it’s really a misinterpretation of that result, that students want both Spring Splash and Heat. Saying that them together is the same thing as two concerts, that’s not what students were voting on, they were voting that they wanted two concerts … and I think we’ve established that it’s impossible to give them two concerts.”
Outreach Director Kevin Chau agreed with the sentiment, stating, “Geovanny (Perez) said that Heat’s cancelled. We’re not getting Heat at all … We’re all here for the students. As of right now we’re not compromising … ASPB has(sic) been doing this for the past 25 years … if we overrule their decision, there goes our relationship.”
ASUCR Executive Vice President Taylor Valmores then presented the senate with a vote to overrule the decision of ASPB to not place Heat in the title of the concert, as well as a decision to not acknowledge the event as a Heat and Spring Splash collaboration. Chou asked for a closed vote; however, she rescinded that decision after senator Dalshawn Boson objected on the grounds of transparency.
After the vote ended, Boror stated that ASPB will continue to program the event, with the additional $200,000 in its budget, which was part of the original decision made by the HUB Board on Nov. 25 2015. As of press time the HUB Board must vote again to allocate the $200,000 or more funds for the concert, of which there is a total of $420,000, which were intended for Heat .
Heat is organized by the HUB Board, who consist primarily of professional staff who have programed the event during winter quarter since 2007. This is the second year that the music festival has been cancelled due to weather concerns, the first being Heat 2014, which was cancelled on March 1, the day it was scheduled. Artists such as Porter Robinson, Chance the Rapper and Panic! at the Disco have performed at the concert.
Spring Splash is organized entirely by ASPB, which consists of 15 student directors, who program and plan out the logistics for the event. Spring Splash has been organized every year since 1991, and has hosted artists such as Ludacris, Flosstradamus and 2 Chainz.
