Spring Formal:

Extraordinarily Epic

Mary Freeman, Managing Editor

Mary_Freeman@csumb.edu

May 8, 2008

Regardless of the change of location

CSU Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB)

2008 Spring Formal went off with

few to no glitches. Held in the

University Center (UC), the event

dominated the UC Ballroom, the

UC Conference Room and the Otter

Bay Restaurant (OBR).

In the Ballroom various hip-hop

and pop songs were played while

the UC lobby was taken over by

student DJs spinning techno beats.

The student DJs performed atop a

massive, round, three-tiered stage

that towered over the at first sparse

group of dancing students. The UC

Ballroom however was relatively

packed throughout the night.

The OBR was reserved

specifically for those over the

age of 21 as alcohol was being

served. A common complaint

amongst students, such as Rose

Fellom-Morris, fourth year Human

Communication major, was that

the beer and wine-only drink menu

was unsatisfactory and that the

three bartenders were overworked

and unable to serve drinks fast

enough. Greg Lehr, Associated

Students (AS) advisor, who helped

coordinate the event stated that

school officials did not intend on

getting students drunk as quickly as

possible, but rather to serve students

at a responsible rate. Regardless of

the fact that many students arrived

to the dance already inebriated,

according to Lehr, only one student

was sent home in order for her, “to

take care of her health.”

The first event that the UC has

ever held of this magnitude, a

generator had to be rented in order

to power everything that went into

the formal. In addition to the two

DJ’s the dance was filled with

lights, artificial snow and smoke,

and ice sculptures.

In his debut to CSUMB, chef

to the stars, Harold Jensen (Chef

Harold), formerly of Caesar’s

Palace Las Vegas Hotel, served a

menu created by university Catering

Director Joyce Powell. Jensen

stated that the portabella puffs and

chicken Caesar bagel pizzas were

based off of previous Oscar menus,

in tune with the Hollywood themed

night, but that the tequila shrimp

were all his own development. This

is just a first look at Jensen’s plans

to bring a “new era of cuisine,” to

the CSUMB campus.

There had been plans for even

more extravaganza with live

video feed from the OBR to the

UC Ballroom, however due to

technical difficulties this was

not possible. Another technical

difficulty that occurred was the

smoke machine setting off the

fire alarm at around 12:30 a.m.,

according to Lt. Jay McTaggart.

Lt. Earl Lawson reported that if

the alarm had went off sooner the

dance would not have been shut

down, but since it happened at the

11th hour it made more sense to

send everyone home.

Regardless of the technical

difficulties the formal seemed to

be a success among attendees. “I

think the Spring Formal has been

extraordinarily fucking epic,”

said Brian Bennett, one excited

attendee. Patrick Mellinger,

who came with the same date as

Bennett, was also impressed by

AS’s efforts and said, “This is

the best night since last weekend,

and if it wasn’t for last weekend

it would be the best weekend in a

long time.”