Senior Steering changes the location of Prom

Due to scheduling and budget conflicts, Samo's Senior Steering changed the location of the 2014 Prom from the Beverly Hilton to the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.According to Activities Director Brooke Forrer, Forrer and English teacher Meredith Louria looked for venues in Santa Monica but had little success in finding one. Keeping the senior class' budget and convenient dates for the seniors' formal dance in mind, Louria and Forrer, with approval from Senior Steering, chose the Hyatt."Every year we have to renew the contract with the Beverly Hilton to hold prom at their venue," ASB President Paria Sheshpari ('14) said. "This year the dates they gave us didn't fit properly with our senior calendar."Benjamin Brown (’14) believes that changing the location will provide a different experience.“It’s good to change it up a bit, however the entire senior class should have been represented [in the decision],” Brown said.Tomas Musca (’14), said that there is little communication between ASB and the student body."I think that the priorities of ASB don't always align with those of the student body," Musca said.Musca does not think that the change of location will affect the turnout because it is such an anticipated event. According to Musca, the Hyatt has had recent renovations fit for prom.“The only reason the Beverly Hilton is so expensive and largely why prom tickets are so expensive is [because of] its location and its history with the Golden Globes,” Musca said.Brown said that Prom almost always has great attendance  and will continue that way  because of the sentimentality and nostalgia at the end of the year.“Each year the motivation for Prom remains prominent since it such a memorable event," Brown said. "It doesn't seem like anyone is deviating from its tradition."According to Musca, the location might not affect the attendance but the cost of the tickets themselves might [affect it]. In order to provide seniors with less expensive prom ticket prcing, Senior Steering is hosting its annual magazine drive fundraiser which allows students to pay off their tickets with magazine sales.“Students are motivated to sell for two reasons: to raise money for themselves and also for the underprivileged kids who can’t afford a ticket to Prom or Grad Nite,” Senior Class President Alex Harros (’14) said.According to Brianna Chico (’14), Prom is one of the highlights of senior year and many people are anxious to see what's in store.Chico said that she is especially looking forward to dressing up, taking pictures, dancing and attending after prom.“We saw all our older friends and siblings have fun last year," Chico said. "We want to experience that too."Jahangir Habib ('14) has a similar viewpoint of Prom — that it is a culmination to a great four years of high school.“Our class has a greater sense of ‘it's senior year-let's do everything all seniors should do.’ We don't want to look back and think we didn't do everything we could have in high school,” Habib said. “It almost feels like a right of passage."bgonzalez@thesamohi.com