This will seriously limit who we can attract. You need months to plan these kinds of events and you need the cash upfront to guarantee the contracts.

Big name shows and acts such as the upcoming Flogging Molly concert may be a thing of the past, as Campus Activity Board members feel that their funding will be insufficient to produce at their current level next year.

At the Feb. 11 Student Association (SA) Senate meeting, the senate voted to emancipate the Campus Activity Board (CAB) and redefine it as a student organization that must request funds from the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC).

Initially, their budget was voted on at $.05 per student, the minimum a group can receive from segregated fees through the Senate Finance Committee (SFC). It was thought that CAB would be able to secure more funds from SAC.

SAC holds large-grant proposal meetings a few times per year during which groups can request larger sums of money for whatever needs they may have. They also hold meetings every two weeks during which the amount a group can receive is capped at $700, though larger requests can come before the Senate.

However, CAB members are less than confident that funds from SAC will measure up to what they have been getting from the SFC.

This will seriously limit who we can attract. You need months to plan these kinds of events and you need the cash upfront to guarantee the contracts, said CAB Financial Director Michael Hansmann.

Additionally, the kind of money it takes to lure a band like Flogging Molly or a comedian like Zach Galifianakis is hard to fund-raise without direct funding.

You cant really have a bake sale for a concert, Hansmann said.

Notable comedic acts can cost in the ballpark of $10,000 to 15,000, and some concerts can far exceed that number. CAB Director Samantha Vanderhoof put the cost at getting Flogging Molly to UWM at around $25,000.

Financing the acts by charging for tickets isnt a viable solution either.

We have to have the money upfront; we cant depend on making it at the door. The university would never sign off on it, said Vanderhoof.

Flogging Molly will be playing in the Wisconsin Room on April 25. Students will be able to get one free ticket with their student ID at the UWM Bookstore starting March 12. Additional tickets will be sold at $10 per person beginning April 2.

Comedian Nick Swardson will be performing next month as well. His show will take place on April 19 at 8 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room and admission will be free on a first come, first serve basis.

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