College isn’t just about booze and iTunes. We are supposed to spend these four (or more) years exploring things we never experience during the sheltered years under our parents. It is throughout these college years we will decide what we actually want and like.

For me, a big part of this experience revolves around the music I listen to, but more specifically, the concerts I attend. For the past few years, I’ve had the realistic dream of becoming a famous rapper, going by the alias of Ja Levitt. I’ll be rocking the suburbs while traveling around the world. While I work on developing my future brilliance in the hip-hop world, I am currently studying the phenomenon of the live concert to glean whatever I can (stage presence, confidence, swagger and sound) in my attempt to make millions in the future.

Student Entertainment Events coordinates the majority of the concerts that take place on the campus. Everyone is entitled to their own taste in music, but you’ve got to give SEE some credit – its members are trying their best to host concerts that appeal to the largest number of students.

Half of the time, SEE is one step ahead of popular music, booking acts that are either on the verge of making it big (Kanye West, John Legend) or who have a very dedicated fan base (Guster, The Roots, Ben Kweller). I wholeheartedly commend SEE for bringing these quality acts to College Park. All of these concerts had affordable tickets, so even if you were not familiar with the artist, you could see the show for cheap. And if you didn’t like it, you didn’t waste too much money on it.

SEE does a good job at promoting its events so most students are aware of who is performing on the campus, whether or not they will actually attend the event.

There will never be a single instance when all students will be at an on-campus concert because we all appreciate different kinds of music. That’s why we’re all addicted to our iPods. This way, we can each listen to our favorite music without having to clash with those who listen to “lesser” genres.

The other half of the time, SEE stumbles in its attempt to appeal to the masses.

If you had told me a year ago that The Game was going to be performing on the campus, I would have been waiting in line at the box office to buy tickets. At that time, The Game ruled the radio waves and MTV with hit singles and flashy videos. His alliance with hip-hop heavyweight 50 Cent took him around the world, helping the former Compton resident to sell millions of records and concert tickets.

Flash forward to November 2005. The Game has lost a lot of his luster, destroyed his friendship with 50 Cent and hasn’t had a song or video in heavy rotation for a few months. For someone who has lost some of his game, the ticket prices are quite steep ($28 for stadium seats, $35 for the stadium floor), especially for a college crowd. Although most of us have jobs or generous parents with open bank accounts, seeing The Game just doesn’t seem like a priority.

SEE needs to be consistently one step ahead of popular music – whether through student surveys, input from music insiders or another solution – if College Park is to see good musicians coming through. Each one of us wants to brag about the unknown artist we saw in College Park who later blew up on the charts. If SEE becomes more consistent and students experiment more with their musical tastes, we will all be able to brag.

“I remember the time when Ja Levitt performed at Nyumburu. That show was sick. I knew after that performance, he was gonna be huge.”

David Levitt is a sophomore physiology and neurobiology major. He can be reached at dlevitt@umd.edu.