Senior Ball is the last hooray for seniors and the culmination of all dances that have come before it. It should ideally be a night that has something for everyone so all seniors can have a night to remember.

But 2017’s Senior Ball does not look like it’s going to be a night for the seniors as much as it is a night for seniors in the leadership class.

The way this year’s ball has been organized, advertised, and hyped does not inspire confidence.

The way that ticket sales were advertised can only be described as non-existent.  Prices started at $105 and increased to $115 after two days. It is understandable that an event like Senior Ball  can cost more than the average dance, but this year’s prices reached a level where they became more cost prohibitive than a student activity should be.

The ticket price is just the beginning with many students having to shell out more money for formal wear, busses, and flowers. Senior Ball is a wonderful experience, and students should not have  to sink beneath the poverty line to enjoy it.

The only reason many students were able to buy tickets before prices went up is if they got a heads up from a classmate rather than an announcement, email, or flyer, all of which are methods that have been utilized before. Why not now?

It seems to The Californian that someone needs students to buy when the prices are high rather than encouraging students to buy when they’re more affordable.

We hope IAMSU is worth the extra price bump. If not, students may have a legitimate reason to ask for a refund.

Live music at dances is not a bad idea. But we  would like to see more student involvement in what kind of act gets booked. The senior class did not ask for IAMSU. Many of us have never even heard of him before.

Students from outside leadership were not given the opportunity to express what type of live act they wanted or if they wanted a musical act at all. No one should assume they know what all the students want when they make no effort to ask any of them.

As consumers of a product, students should have a little more say in what they are buying. Without student input in dance planning, leadership students essentially host a dance for themselves. And that is how Senior Ball is shaping up to be.

It really is unfortunate that we elect class officers to represent our interests when planning events like Senior Ball but the only ones whose voice really matters in planning is theirs and not the students.

Hopefully Senior Ball will be a really great experience for all involved and well worth the gaudy price tag, and all this worrying will be for naught.

But the senior class will find out soon enough and have to judge for themselves.