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"Let me tell you about the lies my friends!" Jesse Cheng, University of California's Student Regent bellowed from the podium on March 1st, 2010, marking the first day of "MARCH for higher education." His words still ring the ears of many university students in general, espe-cially recipients of the UC Cal grant system that was cut drastically in the budget proposition.

Just like any legislation that was unfair to the UC students, this cut in Cal grants and increase in tuition towards higher education was no dif-ferent. This legislative protest was held by the University of California Student Association during the Student Lobby Conference, where the association prepped UC students to change the minds of stubborn legislators.

Although the main focus was swaying the Senators votes, the conference focused on in-spiring students to take action as citizens of California and the United States as a whole, causing them to rethink their rights and the way in which laws are placed. UCSA consists of undergraduate and graduate students from all UC's except Davis, who come together with a common goal each year to better the UC sys-tem.

This year the pending problem was more prominent than most; the money allocated to higher education was not sufficient enough and was causing students to drop out unwill-ingly from their prospective UC's.

"It's important as a citizen to know your rights and express action. The UCSA confer-ence helped students like me do that. It re-minds students that they can make a differ-ence." Ellen Taylor, a freshman at UC Irvine said.

SLC was held from February 26-28, 2010, ending with lobby day on March 1st. The stu-dents attended workshops from 8am to 9pm both Saturday and Sunday, working effort-lessly to refine their skills and create better propaganda to fight the increase in tuition and save Cal grants.

Workshops varied from communication skills to photoshop and advertisement, cre-ating a plethora of ways to advocate one's desire towards higher education funding.

The skills produced by the students proved to be an investment towards the future as higher education was recently in-creased in the budget. Although the solicited outcome was achieved, there was a greater, hidden goal pronounced as well: inspiration in the students of the University of Califor-nia. UC Irvine's student's expressed their passion and actions loudly in the crowd of many students, shining through and show-ing that they wanted to help bring this change on as well.

"We knew exactly what we wanted and what to do. And because of that, our cam-paign was very successful." Branden Hawara

UCSA- continued on page 8

As you can see, I’ve been busy trying to renovate The ‘Vine. I’ve added a few bells and whistles, some austerity here and there, and generally a fresh new look. I might as well since this is the last issue I will be producing.

As always, I want The ‘Vine to represent and embody the hard work ASUCI does for its consitutents. ASUCI does not simply exist to create concerts and flashy events, though that’s often where we see the ASUCI name. ASUCI also works tirelessly off campus as well, representing the interests of UCI in Sac-ramento and among the UC Regents.

Those are the stories we have captured in this issue, the ones that show us every aspect of ASUCI and the University, from the funny and awkward, to the more serious and strik-ing. On the first page, we have the story of Andrew Wong, the intern. Interns at ASUCI are some of the least recognized personali-ties simply because they don’t have an offi-cer’s title by their names. They exist to tie up any loose ends, take care of last minute tasks, and of course, write articles for their officers. Andrew, in particular, is an incredibly accom-plished person and simultaneously someone never too busy for his friends.

The other features in this issue dicuss more serious aspects of life as a student at UCI - as-pects important for any student government to consider. UCSA’s work in Sacramento, es-pecially given the current recession, showed the UC brass at headquarters exactly how students felt about the fee increases. And then we find out that Chancellor Drake wants to build a meditation center on campus.

From the fee increases to the Compton Cook-out, this year has certainly shaken UCI awake. A record number of students protest-ed and picketed up and down campus and UCI emerged anew.

I don’t know what UCI will be like next year because I will be graduating. So good luck ev-eryone and take care,

-Sandeep Abraham Editor-in-Chief

By RASHMI GUTTAL and OLIVIA LEE, ASUCI Legislative Liaison

The UCSA and the March for Higher Education

A Letter From The Editor

The ‘Vine (Sandeep Abraham): If you were to break down your planning pro-cess in a few steps, what would they be?

Kristin Oto: First, you need to make a bud-get and figure out how much money hast to be spent and allocated. Second, we have to make a timeline for the concert. Third, we have to reserve venue, which is not always easy. Fourth, we sit down and brainstorm art-ists we think UCI would want to see. Then, we decide on a ticketing structure and how we’ll go about marketing it. Sixth, we have to book the artists and negotiate artist contracts. Then we think of a marketing plan, which in-volves stuff like advertising. Next, we imple-ment the marketing plan and work out the lo-gistics of it. We then make “Will Call” lists and start buying artist dressing room supplies. Finally, we work with our production team on lighting and stage design.

Tell me about some of the artists you’ve booked.

In my time as Concert Commissioner, I’ve booked Gym Class Heroes, Shiny Toy Guns, Shwayze, Common, B.o.B, The Cool Kids, Su-pernatural, Zion I, Aloe Blacc, Saint Motel, Rootbeer, The Jakes, DJ Miles, The Silver Bea-tles, Jennifer Chung, Clarke, The Lionheart Limited, and more.

How much does it cost to produce a con-cert?

Well there are a lot of things to keep in mind when you’re trying to plan the costs for

The heated, moshing, and subwoofer pounding chaos of Wayzgoose and Shocktoberfest does not simply happen with the wave of a wand. It involves weeks and weeks of meticulous planning and organizing, turning ASUCI officers into booking agents and gig promoters. Wayzgoose 2010 featured the stunning talent of artists Common, B.O.B, and The Cool Kids, whose appear-ances would not have been possible without the work of ASUCI’s Student Services Vice President Kristin Oto and her staff. Her branch of the ASUCI executive office is solely responsible for all the UCI-sponsored events, from the weekly movies aired in HIB 100 to concerts as big as Wayzgoose. - Sandeep Abraham

a concert. Obviously, the talent and venue will cost money. Then we have to worry about se-curity, first aid, and printing tickets. Then the artist’s expenses: dressing rooms, and some-times travel expenses. Then there are the pro-duction costs for lighting and sound and any additional consulting. Marketing alone takes a lot of money.

And from where does ASUCI allocate money from to fund concerts?

There is an ASUCI fee in undergraduate quarterly fees. It is actually comparatively low in the UC system. That money is collected and then allocated by the ASUCI Executives and the Legislative Council to the various programs it has - everything from the legal clinic, profes-sor luncheons, lobby conferences, to Shockto-berfest and Wayzgoose. This fee has not gone up with inflation, so we are working with the

How Does The Schoolhouse Rock?Q&A with Kristin Oto, one of the minds behind Wayzgoose and Shocktoberfest

same amount of money we have had annu-ally from 1997. Unfortunately, the cost of everything has gone up since then, but still we manage somehow.

How do you go about finding artists' agents and securing venues?

Well ASUCI does most, if not all, of its events on campus. The beauty of UCI is that we have a lot of great venues right here. Al-drich Park is a great central location to hold festivals and concerts. We had a huge turn-out at this year's Welcome Week Concert, "Aldrich Park After Dark." The Bren Events Center is another great venue with a nice ca-pacity. Anyone can use the Bren, including clubs! Call their office and ask to reserve a spot and they give you a form to fill out. As long as the Bren is available, it's just a mat-ter of reserving it.