Image C/O The Daily Collegian
I’m going to preface this post by saying that I love THON. THON is the best part of this University and that says a lot because this University is pretty freakin’ awesome. My name even rhymes with THON, that’s how much I like it. That being said, there are some serious issues that the overalls for THON desperately need to work out before next year’s event. Here are some of the changes that I’ll make when I’m inevitably king of the world (and therefore de-facto THON overall):
1. Reduce the number of Rules & Regs committee members by 50% – I was tempted to completely remove everyone from this committee because it seems like every interaction I had with this committee was horrible. Just overly rude and very stick-up-ass-y. I know that a vast majority of R&R members are pleasant people, but I also know I’m not the only one that had some serious issues with this committee this weekend (See: Onward State). But anyway, I just think the committee is bloated. There’s no need to have all of these people around. Check out this picture:
That is 84 R&R committee members creating a double-line of people during one of the floor mops. 84. When you have a serious capacity issue to the point where dancers’ parents who showed up at 4:30 AM to support their sons/daughters can’t even get in the building, you need to reduce headcount wherever you can. I get the need for R&R committee members, but there’s just way too many of them. They aren’t controlling an angry mob and need to keep people back. It’s THON. Have 10 people holding a rope instead of 84. And also hopefully by reducing the number, you can weed out the ones who are, for lack of a better word, assholes.
2. Allow dancers to have 1-2 permanent passes for their friends/family to be on the floor at all times - This makes too much sense. Allow dancers to have 1-2 people that they pick before THON (presumably their parents) and give them a 46 hour pass. These people would be accounted for the same way that the families are so they wouldn’t be shut out of the building if it’s at capacity. The looks on dancers’ faces yesterday when they all found out their parents weren’t going to be able to even get into the building was horrible. That should never happen. Dancing has become a staple event for students’ entire Penn State experience and it’s a shame for parents to drive all the way to State College and then not get into the building. Take away some floor passes from the orgs if you need to, but the weekend is ultimately about the dancers (behind the kids, obviously).
3. Charge $5 for students, $7 for non-students to attend the pep rally Saturday night – Simple supply and demand. There’s a limited supply of seats and a pretty much endless demand for them because it’s free. Easy solution from a business major: charge money to attend the pep rally Saturday night. The building will still be at capacity. I guarantee it. Starting 2 hours before the pep rally, start charging admission. All proceeds go directly to THON. Boom. There’s an extra $25,000 to the total.
4. Anyone who charges more than $1.50 for water needs to donate their profits off of water to THON - This never ceases to make me angry every year. I get that businesses need to make money, but can’t we settle down a little bit on it for THON weekend? During the hours where the building is at capacity, people in the BJC can’t leave. They’re essentially locked inside. And the only option for water is to either wait at the water fountain for about 30 minutes or pay $3.50 for a bottle of water? Come on, Subway. You’re better than that. (I also heard a rumor that they donate their proceeds from the weekend to THON. If that’s true, advertise that so that I don’t get unnecessarily upset every year. TSP will be more than willing to help you advertise.)
These were just a few of the ideas I had. I have countless. Vote for me, Bronny, for THON Overall 2014.
PS – Yes, THONnies, I understand that there isn’t an election for Overall. Relax.
PPS – That picture at the top wins the weekend. Absolutely awesome.
20% of all food/concessions sales at during THON Weekend are donated to THON.
Too low
Last year that was $50,000, just be glad they give something. Most fundraisers at food locations during the year don’t give 20%
“I was tempted to completely remove everyone from this committee (R&R) because it seems like every interaction I had with this committee was horrible. Just overly rude and very stick-up-ass-y.”
….Yeah I’m sure THON would work well without any security or people to help keep order.
” I get the need for R&R committee members, but there’s just way too many of them.”
It’s a bloated committee. No way you can argue against that
Absolutely agree about R&R. Way too many of them and some were real sassy.
how many seats are there, 15,000? Say there’s the normal 708 dancers (710 was special due to an issue with independents). Each dancer gets 21 tickets. This will mean orgs that have more dancers, because they make more, get more tickets. Now, these tickets do not mean that they’re forced on one guy, 10 guys can use the ticket. You just need to run outside, hand your ticket off, and come back in. this allows an equal spread of tickets (more money = more dancers = more tickets) stops the issue of randoms showing up “just because, THON” and allows the R&R to properly keep a count. Limit the doors to gate B. Keeps it the farthest from the drunks (whole idea behind Gate B at night) and can keep all the tickets in one spot. Want more tickets? raise some more money.
Couldn’t agree with most of this more.
But it needs to go farther than that.
All committees need to be reduced in half.
And those in the “THON” community need to remember, the ultimate goal is FUNDRAISING. Stop holding all of these committee members who have never raised a dime in such high regard. Simple economics, if those people get cut from a committee and still want to participate where will they go? Answer – fundraising orgs.
But as long as not hurting anyone’s feelings keeps being goal number 1 the status quo won’t change and people will continue to not be able to get in to THON, get on the floor, etc.
Oh – and before I get blasted as biased, I was a captain. Ive seen both sides.
Good work Bronny
You’re absolutely right. Coming from a committee member, 80% were completely superfluous to helping the THON weekend. A lot of sitting around and taking up space. They’re a great way to meet people and make friends, but they should all be urged to join a fundraising org.
As a former R&R member, I know all too well that some of the committee members can be, for lack of a better word, assholes, and can take their job too seriously ( I got yelled at multiple times in the upper deck during the last 6 hours by kids on separate R&R committees because I was leaning against a chair instead of standing straight up). Over the weekend, my committee members and I discussed the fact that there are more of us than are really needed at the event, however, we came to this conclusion. The R&R committee is essentially an overflow committee. Though people are open to apply to be in it, it’s also where people get sent when they don’t get into the committee they applied for. This being said, I don’t believe that those members should be turned away. Many of the committee members actively contribute to canning weekends and therefore are a huge financial asset to the organization (not to mention all of the merch that they buy throughout the year and all of our other various financial obligations benefiting THON). By reducing the committee by that much, you’d consequently be getting rid of that much contributing to the total as well. I agree that you dont need 84 people holding a rope, so maybe reducing the number of R&R people on the floor instead of just cutting them out entirely is a plausible idea. And remember, though they have relatively no power during THON weekend, they are also usually the ones who people yell at when something goes wrong, even though there’s nothing they can do to fix it. It does get frustrating.
In regards to the dancers families, I worked the PASS table, and believe me I hated turning people away because they didn’t have any passes available and I hated making them wait because the floor was at capacity. However, as much as I admire what they do (I plan on trying to dance next year), the weekend is not about the dancers, it’s about the kids. The dancers are there to bring awareness to the cause, and also to entertain the Four Diamonds kids on the floor. It is a privilege to be one. I have friends that independently raised over $12,000 and did not get picked to dance. Yes, it sucks that they might not get to see their families when they were expecting, but look at in in perspective. There are little kids that have been battling cancer for months, even years. We stand for 46 hours. Though it is an impressive feat, it pales in comparison to what these little kids go through and honestly, they and their families take priority over the dancers and their families. It’s a small sacrifice to be made for a greater good.
All that being said, I agree with most of the proposals you made and think that the system THON has set up is far from perfect. However, no system will ever be perfect and it’s worth it to look at it through another lens and understand why things are the way they are. Just trying to offer a different perspective.
Bump.
@ Casa
Many many committee members are also members of Thon fundraising orgs. About half of my committee was in Atlas. I myself went canning all 3 canning weekends and sent out over 40 Thonvelopes. I don’t know where your claim that committee members “have never raised a dime” is coming from, but you’re wrong. R&R, as a committee, raised over $90,000 this year.
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R&R committees may seem excessive, depending on where they’re stationed, but we rotate locations. In some locations, we do need a lot of members. I was stuck regulating a portal by myself and it was really difficult constantly having to hard run up and down, making sure that people were standing and staying out of the aisle. People think that we’re being annoying, but it’s necessary. So many people were really rude to me for asking them to please move out of the aisle, especially after capacity, but if I hadn’t and all the R&R members just let everyone stand wherever they wanted to, the fire marshall would’ve shut Thon down.
I know some R&R members may be snappy, but we’re there almost all weekend. We get about 2 hours of sleep in between shifts, we’re exhausted, and we have to deal with uncooperative spectators. Captains really emphasize being patient and polite with spectators, which I think is important, but I also think it’s perfectly reasonable that some committee members aren’t going to be in the best of moods. I’m sure you wouldn’t be all smiles when you’re exhausted and being screamed at by strangers.
First of all, I applaud THON and have supported the cause since its inception. I am a late 70s grad of PSU, married to a grad, parent of a grad, and parent of a senior. As the parent of a dancer I am still frustrated from this past weekend. We have hosted canning weekends during which we fed and housed members. I have baked for bake sales and provided supplies for numerous other fundraisers. My husband and I attempted to enter the floor to see our daughter 4 times. We were told by her organization leader to arrive at 1 PM Sat. We arrived at 12:30 PM only to find out that the pass line was closed. We tried again to enter at 5 PM & 8 PM on Sat. and 4:30 AM on Sun. I was told by one of the leaders that it is the Moraler’s job to support the dancer not the parents. I totally disagree. I made an effort and incurred expenses to be there (and supported the local economy). Who does a dancer want to see when their morale is low? Their life-long supporters, AKA parents! By the way, Moralers are not with the dancer 24-7. My daughter’s dance partner ditched her to spend most of his time with his girlfriend, a captain, who was on the floor the entire time. Her organization leader gave passes to her friends at 2 AM Sunday knowing that a friend was waiting to see our daughter. This friend had to get in line AGAIN and was not able to reach her until 6 AM. To say I am disappointed in the organization leader is a mild statement; her definition of what is morally expected of a leader differs from mine greatly.
I told my daughter she cannot change what happened to her but she can change what will happen at future THON events. May I suggest a parent line, timed entries, colored wrist bands to determine who should be on/off the floor and a special area where dancers may interact with people who are important in their lives? In this era of technology employ QR/bar codes for management. All I wanted to do was give my daughter a hug an instead all I could do was wave to her from above before being told to move from the railing by a committee member.
I was recovering from a virus and was sitting in the stand only to be told I must stand or get a medical band. After explaining my situation a medical band was brought to me. Thank you THON member. I will always remember your kindness.
We wanted to meet her family and thank them for welcoming our daughter into their lives but this did not happen either. Fortunately we had written them a thank you note which my daughter placed in their hotel room.
At our hotel several parents expressed the same frustration of not being able to see their child. Some parents even flew to PSU only to be denied access to their child. I am thankful that my sister and her family had a sudden change of plans which prevented them from traveling to Happy Valley as part of the support network because I would have been stressed by their inability to see their niece/cousin. When I saw our local news last evening and people were on the floor who were alumni, but not parents, I was further dismayed. Parents need to have elevated status!!! The eligibility system for passes needs to be evaluated and modified. Do I understand pediatric cancer? Absolutely, I have lived it this past year supporting a dear friend and her family whose son/grandson had his eye removed due to this aggressive, hateful disease. Thanks for hearing me out. We are . . . Penn State!
I’m sorry I am going to disagree with the R&R downsize. Seeing as I know R&R people and though i’ve been yelled at a few times..it’s part of the job. You can’t use that “it’s THON” logic, a bad situation is possibly at anytime. You can’t possibly understand just how much effort these R&R committee members put into their position during the entire year including THON. To the person in the comments who said committee members don’t raise a dime, you must be delusional. These committee members are actively involved in not just canning, but a ton of alternate fundraising events..but I doubt you knew that. The capacity issue is now a location problem unfortunately, don’t punish them for it. Arguments 3 and 4 are terrible contradictions coming from a business major. You can’t scold businesses for selling overpriced items and then suggest that there should be a fee for attending the prep Rally. After all, it is supply and demand right?
Really? I’m sure we couldn’t possibly fathom how much R&R committee members do for THON. Now I don’t know the exact numbers of the rules and regs committee(at least a couple hundred) but if you look at other orgs close to that size, which is pretty much just Atlas, they raised over half a million dollars. Don’t get me wrong $90,000 is a great contribution to THON but you cannot tell me that they are even close to the top for per-person fundraising amount. For the committee members who are involved in other orgs that’s great, but wouldn’t you rather be standing in your section cheering on your dancers? Yes Rules and Regs is needed, and THON wouldn’t be able to function without them, but is having 20 people standing holding a rope in the concourse really the best use of very coveted capacity spots? They aren’t helping dancers, they aren’t interacting with families, and they don’t even get to watch THON. I didn’t have a huge issue with this until I was in line next to a family that flew in from California to see their kid dance, waited for 4 hours in frigid temperatures at 4:30 in the morning, and got turned away. They literally turned to me and asked “If the building is at capacity to the point where parents get turned away why do I see 15 kids in red shirts standing in there in a circle texting.” I had no answer. I’m happy people are getting involved in THON, but when capacity is such a huge issue and you see things like 84 people holding a rope it gets very frustrating. Now i’m sure you know committees are not the only way to get involved in THON. It’s actually pretty difficult to not to become involved. Pretty much every club, residence hall, major, Greek organization, varsity sport, and academic society raise money for THON and that’s not including all the orgs that are formed just to fundraise for THON. So if Rules and Regs was cut in half (and I’m sure it’s not the only committee that could use a downsize) the students who truly want to get involved to help the kids do not have to look far to do it. Also do you realize the amount of students who go away canning and participate in alt fundraisers? It’s practically standard at this point.
The fact that we are comparing an organization based on the sole purpose of fundraising to a committee is absurd. We spend alot of time making sure we know the rules so that THON can run smoothly and everyone is being safe. It’s a tough job and everyone else looks down upon but God forbid something happens…we are here to prevent that. Being on the committee, you can’t understand how much I hate turning people down I heard all forms of stories from people waiting in line to get into the BJC. At the same time, people take advantage of it by fabricating sob stories..it’s happened plenty of times.THON is huge, we were overwhelmed as a committee despite our large size believe or not. It’s easy to be oblivious when you are from the outside looking into a foggy window. The logic of cutting R&R is off. THON is only going to bigger, so do you propose that consistently cut R&R members until we have so few security and lines wrapping the BJC tenfold? Change of location is the only option.
That picture is before the floor was about to be cleaned. Had R&R not been able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, people could accidentally walk through it while it is being cleaned and slip and get injured, specifically, children who are not paying attention. The double line was there because cause the one line was going to walk away, in order to surround the space that was about to be cleaned. We didn’t double line the area. Although some R&R people may have been rude, so were some of the fans. Getting screamed at for explaining the rules was not easy. Fact of the matter is you can’t save seats, you can’t sit and you can’t pass things from the stands to the floor. My captain was screamed at for telling an organization that can’t save seats. In addition, a fellow committee member was yelled at for politely asking a fan to stand. If R&R people are not firm, people will not listen at all. Now I agree they don’t have to be rude, but the same standards should be held for everyone else. In fact, I know an overall that was yelled for telling an older fan they can’t sit in press row. Follow the rules, and you won’t get yelled at.
In addition, every member in my R&R committee wrote out 15 thonvelopes, and we had a canning trip. We also had members come up with alternative fundraisers. Regardless, that should not even matter because it shouldn’t matter how much someone raises, every dollar donated to THON is valued. Your missing the entire point of THON with that argument. In addition, there is people in the stands that probably have not donated a dollar as well, if you wanted to make that argument. I don’t think they should be kicked out because everyone should have an opportunity to support THON, in any way they can. I also thank THON for letting me be on committee, and contribute something other than money. People don’t join committees to avoid raising money. They join because they want help.
Finally, I do not even think they considered us apart of capacity. If we did not stay for the “optional” last shift, our captain escorted us out of the building.
R&R absolutely needs all of the committee members it currently has. There are times where there is only one R&R member per area that needs guarded, so one picture, which shows what happens during a floor mopping, not even a normal shift, does not prove anything in terms of needing less R&R members. Also, in terms of R&R being “assholes” and “sassy”, we are there to make sure rules are being followed and to provide for the safety of spectators and the families. So forgive us if we get a little bit testy when we get booed by spectators (including adults) when we’re going on shift and blatantly disrespected even when we try to be polite in enforcing the rules.
One last comment @ Casa, I can’t speak for other committees, but R&R raised a fairly substantial amount of money this year through canning, THONvelopes, and alternative fundraisers such as merch sales. And many R&R members have an org that they fundraise with as well. So before you go ahead and try spreading absurd fallacies about how committee members didn’t “raise a dime”, maybe try talking to even one committee member about what we do. And if you were a captain, I want to congratulate you on your bravery in anonymously criticizing committee members who may have even had you as a captain at one point.
The whole purpose of THON weekend is celebrate the hard work the volunteers have done over the year. Why would charge students who have already spent 100s maybe even 1000s of dollars to come to an event that is for them? This would then cause more capacity issues. How would you then go about getting the hundreds of people out of the BJC who were solely there for the pep rally.