By JENDA WILSON
Staff Writer
B.o.B and Chiddy Bang are set to rock the Hooper Eblen Center Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and all seating is first come, first served. The concert is part of the SOLO Concert Series, presented by SGA and funded by students.
Ticket distribution for the event started Sept. 8 and continues every day, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the University Center lobby.
“About 3,000 tickets have been given out since Thursday, with each student claiming two tickets,” Ashley Humphrey, SGA Treasurer, said. “The first 300 students received two tickets with floor access. We expect to reach our goal of 6,000 tickets distributed by the date of the concert.”
The voting for this concert took place in the spring, with B.o.B being third in student votes after Ke$ha and Bruno Mars. Humphrey said that unforeseen changes in tour schedules prevented Tech from booking those artists. Chiddy Bang was proposed by the concert-booking agent and fit into the SOLO budget and music genre.
Humphrey said that voting for next spring’s concert would be heavily promoted after the fall concert is over. The genre will be pop and an SGA band selection committee will create a list of five to seven artists for which students can vote.
Humphrey also said that SGA is only responsible for providing tickets to students, so they are unable to prevent students from selling their tickets online or otherwise. SGA does not provide tickets to non-students in the community, but each student is provided an extra ticket in order to bring a guest.
Faculty and staff will not be given tickets this year since SGA expects a greater student turn out. Since the fee associated with the concert is only applied to students, Humphrey said that SGA is not required to provide tickets to faculty and staff.
In 2010, students passed a referendum to increase full-time student fees by $20. Named the Student Organization Life Opportunity, or SOLO Fund, it was created by SGA to provide much need monies to student organizations on campus and to increase student retention by funding relevant activities. The Fund is also used to sponsor one major event on campus each semester, with the first being the Goo Goo Dolls and Vertical Horizon concert held last semester.
The SOLO Fund is divided into a Super Fund, which funds the Concert Series, and a General Fund. The General Fund is a smaller percentage of money collected from the $20 student fees that is allocated to student organizations to fund free events for students.
All University registered organizations can apply for funding of a planned event. There are three available application sessions during the semester, allowing organizations to receive up to $2,000 ($1,000 per event) per semester.
Organizations are required to fill out an application with details regarding what their event consists of and how they plan to execute the event with SOLO funds. SGA then chooses which organizations will receive funding.
For more information about the SOLO organization funding, or to get an application, visit www.tntech.edu/sga/forms.
