Skit
Night not up to standards
Brooke Tacker, posted Oct. 5, 2006
“Skit Night used to be my favorite part of AgWeek (CAFNR
Week),” senior Jill Kohut said. “But Skit Night
2006 was not as much fun as in year's past.”
Kohut’s comments were reflected in many similar opinions
from different students and faculty. A common dissatisfaction
seemed to be the mood of those who attended Skit Night 2006.
“The audience did not seem to be very engaged,”
Assistant Dean Jim Spain said. They were respectful and non-disruptive,
but “the group didn't seem to really ‘get into’
the performances.”
During the performances at Skit Night, Spain continually had
to encourage the audience to cheer for their fellow classmates.
The lack of enthusiasm and audience participation was obvious.
“The audience [seemed] disappointed and unsatisfied
by the way Skit Night turned out,” freshman Luella Fischer
said. “Many were ready for [each] skit to be over, hoping
for something better to come.”
“They [the audience] sat there, clapped at the end and
laughed every once in a while,” Tanner Meyer, Block
and Bridle’s Barnwarming King candidate, said.
Many referenced the root of the dissatisfaction as being the
changes made to Skit Night and CAFNR Week in general this
year. One change was the location. Instead of being at The
Blue Note as in years past, Skit Night was held at The Missouri
Theater.
“I feel the atmosphere in which it was held (Missouri
Theatre vs. Blue Note) was not as comfortable,” Kohut
said. “Therefore people were not engaging in conversation
and possibly felt distanced from the "actors" on
stage. Plus, the Blue Note is a more relaxed atmosphere.”
People were not hooping and hollering as much as usual, senior
Bradley Schad said. This more-conserved behavior was explained
by the location being in the Missouri Theater.
“Usually everyone is laid-back and ready to have fun;
this year it seemed that everyone was kind of uptight,”
Sarah Jackson, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow Barnwarming
Queen candidate, said.
Others felt that there was a decline in attendance this year
and that this had something to do with the lack of audience
participation.
“I have been participating [in Skit Night] for three
years now. The past two years, every event has been so packed
that there was hardly room to stand,” Lori Guthals,
Collegiate Cattle Women’s Barnwarming Queen candidate,
said. “Now, there hardly seems to be anyone there at
all.”
Many people did not show up because no alcohol was going to
be served at the Missouri Theater, Jamie Swoboda, Block and
Bridle’s Barnwarming Queen candidate, said.
“People were not intoxicated, [so they] didn’t
get too much into it,” Schad said.
However, not all students saw the absence of alcohol as a
problem.
“I didn't think that it [the event being dry] detracted
from the event all that much," sophomore Marcus Petree
said.
Skit Night is supposed to bring the students of CAFNR together.
It is an event held during CAFNR Week to show the spirit students
and faculty has for the College of Agriculture, Food &
Natural Resources, according to those who were interviewed.
The purpose of Skit Night is “to have fun, develop camaraderie
among the students and a somewhat covert purpose of developing
the skills to communicate effectively and organize events,”
Agricultural Economics Professor Jan Dauve said.
Students said close to the same thing, just more focused on
the fun and entertaining aspects of Skit Night.
“I believe that Skit Night is supposed to be a fun night
for the clubs of CAFNR to come together and tease each other
a bit,” Swoboda said. “It is also a time for faculty
to come and enjoy the company of their students.”
One skit in particular took the teasing too far and was found
inappropriate by many students. Alpha Gamma Sigma’s
skit mentioned many students’ specific names and did
not get a very positive response from the audience.
“They [Ag Sig] personally targeted people and crossed
the line in more ways than one,” Fischer said. “There’s
a difference in having some fun and trashing others.”
Other students agreed.
“Most people I know were thinking, did they really just
say that?” Jackson added.
Another feeling expressed through the dissatisfaction and
disinterest was the continuing differences of opinion on whether
or not the name CAFNR Week took the agriculture out of Ag
Week.
“The name change of Ag Week to CAFNR Week reflected
more the general attitude of people regarding production agriculture
than a need to better identify with the entire student body
of the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources,”
general agriculture major Scott Coleman said.
Others recognized the changes since the move from Ag Week
to CAFNR Week and suggested that they really are not so different.
“Whether you call it Ag Week or CAFNR Week, agriculture
should still be the common bond between us all,” Kohut
said.
