Students take to the e-polls

UPB surveys student entertainment desires through new medium

Why has Raffi never set foot on JMU soil? There is a secret behind the campus' reputation for hosting trendy, terrific performers — the University Program Board poll. In an effort to understand trends in the student body's tastes, UPB features an online poll on its Web site.

The poll can be found at upb.jmu.edu and is powered by a free account at www.pollhost.com.

The polls are changed weekly, according to freshman Jeremy Paredes, UPB director of media and public relations. He said UPB posted polls to aid with decisions it needs to make about potential JMU events.

The questions come from any UPB board member who has a topic they would like campus-wide input on, or something that's just for fun, according to junior Jonathan Cronin, UPB director of multimedia and graphic design.

The poll began in September 2003, according to senior Amanda Jordan, UPB executive director. Since its beginning last fall, the poll's popularity has been increasing. Cronin said over 5,000 votes were received regarding the spring concert.

Pollhost.com is a free service that keeps track of the votes cast on the Web site and generates the bar chart to show the results, according to Cronin. He said it has precautions which keep people from voting more than once.

"In a perfect world, we would just have one vote from everyone who goes to JMU, but that's not going to happen," Cronin said. "The best we can do is try to make the impact that everyone has on the poll's results equal."

Sometimes the poll features random questions, too, such as this week's poll, "What do you want in an engagement ring?"

"It is important to know what the JMU public wants," Paredes said. "[The] poll is a great way to find out, although it is not the only way." UPB also must determine what groups are being routed in the direction of JMU, such as groups performing in Richmond or Virginia Beach. However, it is not always up to UPB and JMU whether or not a group will perform here; the group has to be available and willing to perform in a college venue as well.

Snoop Dogg won the opinion poll in November, and UPB tried to bring him to campus, but, because of management and other decisions, he was unable to perform at JMU, according to Paredes. N.E.R.D. and Black Eyed Peas were the second runners-up in that poll, so UPB contacted them, but both groups could not be booked either, due to decisions on the groups' management level.

"It (getting performers) doesn't always work out as planned, but it can work out positively," Paredes said.

A recent poll asking students to identify who they would like to see perform at JMU included Maroon 5, Less than Jake and several other groups. Pop-rock group Maroon 5 won the poll by 40 percent and ska group Less Than Jake got about 30 percent of the vote. UPB was able to book both bands to perform April 21 at the Convocation Center at 8 p.m.

Junior Amanda Thon said, "I voted for Maroon 5 because I really wanted them to come this semester because they are one of my favorite bands right now." She found the poll on a friend's America Online Instant Messenger profile and copied the poll's link onto her own profile.

"I put [the link] on my profile to get more people to see it, and hopefully get them to vote for Maroon 5," she said.

Paredes said one of UPB's main goals is bringing diverse performers to JMU. Last fall, UPB sponsored concerts by country singer Phil Vassar, alternative group 311, and Graham Colton and Sponge through the Music Industry 422 class. In February, Ziggy Marley and Michael Franti & Spearhead were the first reggae acts to appear at JMU. Hip-hop musician Rahzel will open the show. "We think the poll online is a great outlet for students to show their opinions," Paredes said.

"The poll has no official mission," Cronin said. "It is a tool we use to see what the JMU population thinks of certain issues."

UPB also encourages students to express their performance interests directly to UPB via e-mail. The UPB Web site, upb.jmu.edu, features contact information for various committee members.