April 27, 2018
Perspectives
Page 10
Is Coachella worth the hype?
Katheryn Frazier Staff Writer
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was established in 1999 and has grown into one of the world’s largest music festivals. M u sic lovers around the world gear up for the ultimate festival experience. The event is hosted at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. This year’s festival took place between the weekends of April 13th and April 22nd. Headliners for this year’s Coachella include Beyoncé, Eminem, Cardi B, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and Alan Walker. Over 100 more bands performed at the festival, though the majority of the of the artists play electronic, pop or hiphop music. Coachella also offers world class art and food. The festival commissions art installments to be placed across the venue and over 100 vendors to serve a variety of food. Coachella attendees come from all around the world, and in large numbers. 750,000 people attended last year’s
DANCING ASTRONAUT
Coachella, which earned the festival up to $115 million. The general admission price for Coachella ranges from $429 to $504. The VIP pass costs $1000. The passes are only for three days or for one of the weekends that Coachella operates. The admission does not cover the food costs within the festival. Additional fees to stay on site for the festival include car camping or tent camping, which costs $113 for a weekend plus a permit that must be bought. If car or tent camping is not your ideal way to stay over at Coachella, there is always hotels, however since people come from all over the world
to attend the festival, the rates of hotels skyrocket. The idea of Coachella is very appealing to me at first glance with the level of artistry across the board between music, food, and art. However, upon thinking about it more, the idea seems more absurd to me. The price of admission to attend Coachella is ridiculous. Spending $429 to $504 dollars on a three-day weekend is a waste of money. On top of that, I would have to pay for airfare or another type of transportation, as well as for a hotel or camping permit. Food would also not be included in the admission of the Coach-
ella, so I would have to set aside a generous amount of money to eat out. I would rather pay for a ticket to a specific artist that is less than $100 for a venue that is more accessible to me. Then go out for dinner before or after the concert. In comparison, I would save more money to go to the closer venue than to go to Indio, California. Another problem with Coachella is that it is in a desert setting, which makes it consistently hot. The amount of people attending the festival would also make the venue even more uncomfortable and crowded. The large au-
dience at a given spot would make it hard to be able to see the artist perform. In addition, there is no guarantee no overlapping times with multiple artists I would want to see. I love music, and admittedly, a couple of artists I am interested in are performing at Coachella, but there are not enough artists to entice me to go. My taste of music does not lean towards electronic, pop, or hiphop either. The price to pay for admission, transportation, food, the heat, the crowds, and the list of artists are not enough for me to personally attend Coachella. Coachella is not for me.
The future of political civility
Jonathan Kolker Staff Writer
Barbara Bush, wife of one president, mother of another and relic of a bygone era of American politics, passed away last week at the age of 92. The passing of the matriarch serves as a reminder of the transformation that American politics has undergone since the heyday of the Bush dynasty. Her death represents more than just the passing into irrelevance of the political powerhouse that was the Bush family. It also represents the end of a custom that has had sway over American politics far longer than any dynasty: political civility. Barbara Bush possessed this civility in great measure. It is for this reason that her death has been met with many tears on both sides of the aisle. As Nancy Pelosi, Democratic minority leader of the House of Representatives, said, “Mrs. Bush brought dignity, civility and spirit to everything she did.” What is perhapsmost distressing about
IMPACT continued from 3 climbing, backpacking and mountain biking. Although there are no major upcoming events this semester, Impact hosts open climbing at Seneca Hills Bible
the former First Lady’s death is the contrast her memory forms with the picture of American politics today. Surveying the history of American politics, countless examples of civility in public life come to mind, even in recent times. Following their respective primary victories in the 2000 campaign, Bush and Gore congratulated each other for their victories. In 2004, Bush and Kerry did the same, as did McCain and Obama in 2008 and Romney and Obama in 2012. Indeed, following Obama’s primary victory in 2008, Senator John McCain released a campaign ad congratulating him for his victory, calling the day “a good day for America.” In 2016, neither Hillary Clinton nor President Trump called to congratulate each other over their victory. Rather, Trump, on the night Clinton became the presumptive nominee, gave a speech in which he accused her of turning the State Department into her private hedge fund. That same night, she called him temperamentally unfit to be president. To President Obama, George Bush is a very
good man. To President Trump, Hillary Clinton is a nasty woman. The assumptions of civility are, in many ways, the same as those assumptions upon which American democracy was crafted. To disagree respectfully is precisely what it means to live in a pluralistic, rather than autocratic, society. “We cannot do democracy,” as Vice President Mike Pence once said, “without a heavy dose of civility.” The Bush family, despite its faults, has always exhibited civility in its dealings with political opponents. George H. W. Bush, after being defeated after one term by Bill Clinton, wrote the following to him: “You will be our President … Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.” George W. Bush, after Obama entered office, refused to criticize the new president, reasoning that there already existed plenty of critics who could perform that role, a grace which Obama would not afford Bush in his years as president or afford Trump after leaving office. Bush also ordered his administration to work relentlessly to ensure
Camp on each second and fourth Thursday of each month. Sophomore James Hayward, who transferred to Grove City last January, found out about the program through talking with
other students who are involved. “It has been an awesome opportunity for leadership development and has been exciting to see how the program has grown,” said Hayward.
the transfer of power to Obama’s administration would be particularly smooth. For Bush, along with the rest of his family, could say, “I love my country a lot more than I love politics.” For this mentality, we have no one to thank more than Barbara Bush. She served as a pow-
erful role model for her family (so great was her influence that her family jokingly called her “the Enforcer”), teaching them to love their country and show respect for those around them. As her granddaughter Jenna Bush put it, “she taught me to use my voice but also to value the opinions of others.”
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