Performers Give All at Yard Fest Auditions By Brittany Summers Bowie State University's Campus Activities Board held its famous yard fest auditions Sept. 27, drawing more than 60 area students and musicians to showcase their talents with hopes of landing a spot in this big event. Campus Activities Board Chairman Josh Spivey said organizers were looking for 20 to 25 performers for Yardfest on Oct. 13, which has become a highlight of Bowie State University's annual homecoming celebration. The event will be held outside on Holmes Quad from 12 noon to 8 p.m. There will be lots of activities such as flag football, a basketball tournament and a mini carnival. Yard Fest is one of the more popular events held during homecoming week, there are usually surprise celebrity guests who also come out and perform. This year, the concert portion of the day will be held between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Along with the national artists will be some of Bowie's finest talents. This is one event where students get to show off their work and skills for everyone to see. When auditioning for the event, the performers were graded on a 180 point rubric. Some of the items they were being judged on were quality of music, ability to engage audience, originality, and marketability. The talents shown were a mixture of singing, dancing, and rapping. In the past, Yardfest disappointed students. There have been fights, lackluster performances and a lack of turnout among students. This year's team plans to make big changes to this event. Their goal is to promote it on and off campus, to bring in a better audience while also protecting the safety of those in attendance. The board is looking to surpass the expectations of students in order to compete with other schools in the area. Some of the highest scoring acts included A-Class, a Bowie State University group who earned a score of 170 out of 180. Jai Blazin is an act from in the area that came out with a score of 164, along with Dagga with a score of 164. Lyriciss, from Bowie State earned a score of 163 and the Bowie Jabberwockies, a dance group, earned a score of 163. Campus Activities Board member Terell Robinson said the performances will be much better than previous years and hopefully this alone will bring out a better crowd. Spivey was not authorized to announce the national artists at the time, but he is confident that students will enjoy all of the performances. A lot of planning and hard work has gone into making this a great event for Bowie State and the committee hopes that this can be achieved. | 
I chose Bowie State University because not only was it close to home, but it also has a growing and terrific communications department. 
Dr. Falih M. Alsaaty is professor in the management information systems department in the College of Business for Bowie State University (BSU). In cooperation with other faculty members, he played a key role in the creation of the College's Master of Business Administration Program. 
Donna Broadway launched her writing career at Bowie State when she first became a contributor to The Spectrum newspaper, where she rose through the ranks to become Deputy Managing Editor during her senior year. 
