This is written in response to the editorial entitled “Compromise” in Statler and Waldorf from the week of Tuesday, February 4. The article mentions “disappointment in a particular student run group, UPAC.” My first comment on this would be a formal apology to the UPAC community and the program board. The author of said article is actually making a reference to UPAC Cinema, whose officers and chairman they had dealings with. I, the chairman of UPAC Cinema, would like to apologize for the comments of disappointment made in reference to the other UPAC organizations because these students had nothing to do with this situation and should not have been mentioned.

UPAC Cinema has DCC 308 booked for the entirety of this semester for Fridays and Saturdays so that we can show movies to the students on campus. The movies themselves have been booked since mid-December. UPAC Cinema was forced to cut out Wednesday showings due to both lack of funding and interest, which I’m sure the writer of said article was unaware of. I was approached by the head of the V-Day Committee towards the end of January. She asked me if it would be possible to switch around Cinema’s schedule so that her committee could hold a performance of The Vagina Monologues in DCC 308. She offered to pay us as a sort of reimbursement for our showings, a sum that was not enough to nearly cover the cost of the movie or the revenue we would lose in the process. I responded by saying that I would speak with my committee.

The movie on February 28 had been booked since mid-December, and I had intended it to be a good chance for our organization to bring revenue into the Union. This would help to both keep our organization going, and to help lift the burden of our organization off the E-Board, which is why any organization does a fundraiser. I did speak with my committee; I made sure to ask every single officer in my organization. I wanted the organization’s opinion—not to just go on my gut instinct. The officers said that they did not want us to move our times around. I informed the V-Day committee of our decision, and in doing so both apologized for the inconvenience and tried to give them ideas for additional options of room selection.

UPAC Cinema does not, historically, change its Friday movie schedule for outside organizations, and so did not in this situation. Our Friday movies are, in general, our most popular movies. What better time for UPAC Cinema to bring in revenue? We commonly change our other movie schedules around for organizations on campus on Wednesdays and Saturdays for such groups as the Rensselyrics, Genericon, and the Rensselaer Union Speaker’s Forum. Also, unlike other organizations, we cannot use another venue to house our events. The 35 mm projectors are housed in the booth in DCC 308 and are attached firmly to the floor.

I am disappointed about the one-sided view of the article in question and am only offering our opinion on the matter. UPAC Cinema did not intend to offend anyone and does not have a negative attitude toward any outside organization and I apologize if we appear to be so. I strongly urge students to go to see The Vagina Monologues on February 28 or to attend any UPAC event that they can. The UPAC organizations work so that there may be fun and exciting events on campus for Rensselaer students, and without your support the UPAC organizations would mean nothing. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Matthew Newman

UPAC Cinema Chair