Duke: March Without the Madness

Duke's Springfest most closely resemblesHarvard's in scope. A one-day event that takesplace in the school's main overlappingquadrangles, it features craftspeople, foodvendors and varying entertainment.

Sophomore Jared Strauss, the chair of Duke'sSpecial Events Committee which plans Springfestand its fall counterpart, Octoberfest, says theevent was "primarily a crafts fair."

According to Krista Cipriano, who advised thecommittee until this year, there are usually 70tables rented to local vendors of homemade goods,and 10 tables with food vendors.

"The food vendors are supposed to bringsomething to campus that the students don'tusually have, such as Greek food or homemade icecream," Cipriano says.

The Special Events Committee, which is part ofDuke's Student Union, usually pays a company tobring in a game like student sumo-wrestling orjoust, and then has two or three local bands playin the Residential Quad in the afternoon, Strausssays.

"This year we had the Jumpstarts, a NorthCarolina ska band, and Different Drum, a jazzband," Strauss says. "We only have $2500 to spendbetween the game and band, so we can't get bandsthat do national touring."

According to both Cipriano and Strauss, thesuccess of Springfest at Duke is veryweather-sensitive.

"We got really lucky with the weather thisyear, and received nothing but good reports [onthe event]," Strauss says. "At any given time,there were about 2,000 students in the two quads.

"Sometimes, though, when it rains, we have tobring the event inside to the Student Center, inwhich case we don't have the game," he adds.

Concerns about the weather at a school thatholds its Springfest in March--it's hard tosympathize.

UPenn: Great Expectations

If Harvard's Undergraduate Council has a hardtime living up to expectations built up from thepast, consider the difficulties facing UPenn'sSpecial Events and Planning Committee (SPEC).

After years of Spring Fling headliners thatincluded Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, andthe Violent Femmes, SPEC has encountered criticismthis year despite its four-band "Funk MusicFestival."

The festival's lineup features Maceo Parker,the John Spencer Blues Explosion, ska-punk bandFishbone and the Five Fingers of Funk.Dissatisfied with impressive assemblage of talentand a crowd of over 10,000, many UPenn studentshave complained that these bands lack the namerecognition of previous Spring Fling headliners.