By Danielle LeBlanc, Staff Writer
We’ve all seen movies playing on the T-Hall lawn, but who is in charge of putting on these movies?
Campus Activities Board, fondly known as CAB, is in charge of the outdoor movies —they show movies on the lawn twice a semester.
“The goal of CAB’s outdoor movies is to bring students together to socialize and have fun,” said Leah Cautillo, a sophomore and head chair of the outdoor movies in CAB. “It’s an alternative late-night weekend activity.”
Last Friday, CAB’s outdoor movie featured The “Amazing Spider Man 2.”
“We had about 400-450 people there on Friday,” said Melanie Green, UNH junior and director of CAB. “We usually have around 400 [people].”
So how does CAB decide what movies are going to be playing on T-hall lawn? According to Green, CAB has had different approaches in making this decision over the years.
“We’ve been kind of playing around with different things,” Green said.
For example, last May CAB polled the campus on their Facebook page on which movies students would be most interested in watching. The poll consisted of four movies and each student had the choice of voting for the movie they wanted the most. HoThis year, however, CAB had a slightly different approach.
Jennifer Allen, a senior and another member of CAB, said that this year CAB picked five movies internally that they liked the best and then sent them to Ken Barrows, assistant director of MUB operations, who is in charge of movies in the Memorial Union Building.
“Through him we go through a company that allows us to choose different movies,” Allen said.
According to Green, this year CAB sees what movies they can have access to based on what dates they come out and then choose amongst themselves.
However, it is not only the movie that draws the crowd onto the lawn. In the past, CAB has been known to give away free glow sticks. Last Friday, they decided to mix things up a bit.
“We gave away free popcorn this year which was a big hit,” Green said. “We just walked around and gave out popcorn, and I think people really liked that. We always try and find new things to give away.”
Green said she feels that students are mostly happy with the movies that CAB picks and how the event turns out.
“We generally get a positive response to our movies,” Green said.
However, there are some that wish they had more say in the decision making process. One of those students is senior Athan Blaine.
“They’re interesting [movies], but they’re not my favorite,” Blaine said. “I wish I had more of a say.”
This Friday, CAB will be showing “22 Jump Street” as their outdoor movie.
All in all, CAB members seem to believe the event is a hit.
“Everybody loves a good movie on the grass,” Allen said.
