The Convocation Center is a “$36 million investment” and “the single venue that can bring the university community together at one place and one time to share an experience”, according to its Web site.

However, this multi-million dollar venue has more empty seats then a Michael Bolton concert, and it makes the average NIU student wonder why their money isn’t properly utilized by this glorious investment to transform DeKalb into the entertainment capital of Northern Illinois or even cater to the needs of students.

If the Convocation Center has the opportunity to entertain everyone within 90 miles, why doesn’t NIU demand the Convocation Center seize this opportunity?

Solutions must be proposed to not only provide means of entertainment for NIU students but to capitalize on the incredible opportunities and revenue the Convocation Center can produce for DeKalb.

Book bigger acts that college students will enjoy. The Convo will host Christian rock band Casting Crowns in December and hosted 1998 heartthrobs Goo Goo Dolls and poet laureate Larry The Cable Guy last spring. I don’t know about you, but I think the majority of students aren’t going to clear their schedules for this kind of lackluster entertainment.

Instead of booking acts on a whim, the Convo should cater to the musical tastes of NIU students. If filling out surveys is too time consuming, Facebook is an easy tool that displays NIU’s musical tastes.

According to NIU’s network page on Facebook, popular music amongst our student body includes Incubus, Jack Johnson, Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Coldplay. Why not book some of these bands and artists while they are on tour?

Sesame Street and REO Speedwagon are two events that seem counterproductive on a college campus unless our children and parents are in town.

Make tickets cheaper and employ better marketing strategies.

A college student has a limited budget; that’s no secret. Why would anyone who is having ramen noodles for the third night in a row spend nearly $50 to see a bit on being a redneck? No student in their right mind is going to shell out that kind of dough if they are on a fixed income.

The Convocation Center can curb this by offering discounted tickets to students and their families. Or why not a season- or semester-long pass that lets students see all the shows for one discounted rate?

With such an extravagant venue literally right in our backyard, we should be able to reap the benefits without having our parents take out a second mortgage.

Instead of advertising lazily in The Northern Star, the Convo needs to think big. Put up billboards on I-355 and I-88 advertising the next big show that is coming to DeKalb. Run television ads on DeKalb and Chicagoland stations. Cooperate with radio stations to give out free tickets to the event at hand. When we have over 20,000 students who could fit in a 10,000-seat venue and we are barely filling it up, there is a problem.

We students have chosen NIU as our college and we demand to be entertained.

We are tired of the endless amounts of pretentious indie bands that play downtown DeKalb. We are asking that the Convocation Center be utilized to its highest potential.

In the movie “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner’s character is told; “if you build it, they will come.”

If you book better acts, we will come.