Anyone who has been to a campus event in the last year can attest to the fact that students simply aren’t as interested in them as they used to be. Certainly classwork, jobs, and private social events get in everyone’s way, but what if that’s not the whole story?
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Most campus events are hosted by organizations. They have the power to reserve space, put up signs and flyers, and other things that individuals cannot do. However, some student organizations still have a difficult time of it.

   Some of this is warranted. There are only so many rooms on campus, and granted, budget money must be monitored to ensure that it is used for the appropriate reasons.

   But is there more than that? The hoops student organizations jump through to get their events in line sometimes border on the ridiculous. Budget money must be spent using an approved credit card and at approved locations, which can cause problems for specialty organizations who can’t find everything at WalMart.   Rooms in certain buildings cannot be changed to suit a group.

   Not everything is a problem. The fact that certain spaces on campus can only be booked once by each organization in a particular time frame keeps the underdog organizations from being overrun by some of the more prominent groups, but that can be a double-edged sword.

   With so many Greek or activist organizations on campus, it is very easy for simple student interest groups to get run over by those with more power, or those with a pitiable cause. Students who just want to read poetry, play games, or take part in a common activity often find themselves unable to find time to do it due to the insistence that we spend our time being activists.

   The process to get any kind of advertisement on campus approved is in some ways highly inefficient. Students across campus have admitted inability to attend events because the advertising showed up scant hours before the event time itself.

   Rooms can only be booked so far in advance, which conflicts with the advertising approval time. How can we ask the student body to give us their time when the process is such a pain?

   While these procedures may cover all of the university’s bases, they are far from efficient for most clubs and organizations. What happens when student organizations get tired of all the difficulties? The blame can only fall on student apathy for so long.

   We don’t have to be able to run completely loose, but if it’s interest and activity the university wants, they might try loosening the leash.