Goodbye Shocker Sound?

[Singeril]

Last night, the Student Government Association voted to stop funding Shocker Sound saying this was an Athletic Department issue. The Athletic Department has said that if it is left to them, they will drop the student band and use community members (good luck with that---community members don't generally have all the instruments or organization). President Bardo has "veto" power, as I understand it.

Going to a "community band" would be a huge mistake--I know of NO other university or major college basketball program where this type of band is in place. It should be a student band. Hopefully, people will step up to help fund Shocker Sound. They are a valuable part of the atmosphere at our games--whether we like everything they play or not.

[Cdizzle]

Seems like they were pretty much a community band up until a few years ago. My bet? There will still be a low brass cheer.

[pie n eye]

Great, more empty seats in the student section. Let's just cut that allotment in half (give students the upper half) and sell the lower as season tickets.

Sort of kidding. What's the thought behind this? Seems like retribution for something the AD has done to the SGA.

[Eric]

Count me as one who views this idea as horse ****!

[Singeril]

Seems like they were pretty much a community band up until a few years ago. My bet? There will still be a low brass cheer.

I don't remember it ever being "pretty much a community band"--and I go back a long way with Shocker basketball and the music department.

[Shox21]

How much are we talking about money-wise? I think I remember at one time there were "aged" members of the band who I assumed were not students, but that has been quite some time. The students add excitement and energy to the band that the somewhat older members do not. Again, how much are we talking about?

[CBB_Fan]

All of the people in the band were students, though some were graduate students and some were not traditional students.

I would estimate the band is subsidized roughly $60,000 a year with perhaps another & $40,000 for the director's salary, instrument upkeep, and travel. I highly doubt is much over $100,000 over all.

SGA's budget is around $9.2M for reference.

[ShockerPhi]

Having to set up a GoFundMe for our band would be kind of embarassing. But I'd contribute to it if it came down to it.

[pie n eye]

There used to be an old dude that played trumpet I think. That guy was awesome. Bring him back and I'm on board.

[ShockdaWorld]

What a stupid thing for the SGA to decide to cut. I'm clueless on these things, but is there any way to get some kind of community petition going to "reinstate" them, or is it just one of those things they decide to do and it's final?

[AndShock]

Bucknell had UNI act as their band in the NCAA tournament 10 years ago, maybe we can borrow them next March. The SGA probably needed to find some funds for parking garages and public segways so students don't have to walk.

[Singeril]

All of the people in the band were students, though some were graduate students and some were not traditional students. I would estimate the band is subsidized roughly $60,000 a year with perhaps another & $40,000 for the director's salary, instrument upkeep, and travel. I highly doubt is much over $100,000 over all. SGA's budget is around $9.2M for reference.

WSU is a university with a LOT of non-traditional students. I can't give you exact figures because I don't have them. However, the overall budget is probably close--but the director is a graduate assistant from the School of Music. He doesn't make but a fraction of the $40,000 figure you sight. Most of the music grad assistants make well under $10,000 per year--more in the 6,000-7,000 range. Instruments, upkeep, insurance, and so much else are costly. They are one of the most visible organizations on campus---they play for not only all the men's games, but the women's basketball games as well. They also perform for many other events on and off campus. Not funding them is ridiculous.

[Dave Stalwart]

I can tell you that a non student band could be fantastic. Speaking as someone who has been a part of that whole thing for a long time, my two cents is that you would end up with an all star cast of all the very best players who are still willing to play as an alum instead of a student. Many of the people who graduate miss it terribly and ask every year to be included if at all possible. Basically you would end up trading college students for adults and professionals and we would play out of the same book as you are used to hearing. Someone mentioned the old trumpet player. Yeah he was as good or better than anyone. He never wanted to leave. When they switched the rule to require active students and no more alums, many players were very disappointed.

The issue here is not about shutting down anything so don't fear that. The issue is that there is probably an ongoing debate about who has to pay for everything. If the athletic department doesn't want to and neither does anyone else, they start saying stuff like this I guess.

The reason the athletic department knows they can go with a community band is because they get contacted frequently by former players and shocker sound directors asking if it could be opened up for more players outside of regular students. They already know a community band would be easy to put together by one of these former directors and the players are plentiful. In many cases, there are people who would even do it without pay, just to get into the games free.

The only people who will lose in this situation will be the student musicians. It will become harder to make the cut for shocker sound for the average player and it will probably start paying less or nothing at all. And that is why the other department is probably footing the bill to date if they are.

[wu_shizzle]

There used to be an old dude that played trumpet I think. That guy was awesome. Bring him back and I'm on board.

Does anyone know what Grant is up to?

[Dave Stalwart]

Seems like they were pretty much a community band up until a few years ago. My bet? There will still be a low brass cheer.

This is correct. It was around 2010 when it became an enforced requirement that one be an active student. This whole thing is just about one group that doesn't have any money trying to get the other group that obviously has money to cover the cost. That's my guess at least. There will be a band either way depending on who loses the game of chicken.