For this year’s Winterball, ASB Dance Commissioner Kimmy Lundberg has reduced the costs of holding the dance in order to lower ticket prices. ASB may continue to plan dances in this manner if students do not respond negatively to decorative changes made as a result of decreased spending on the dance. They will continue to reevaluate their decision to reduce ticket prices based on student feedback.

Tickets for the “Happy New Year” Winterball began at $10 with an ASB pass and $15 without one. The price of dance tickets rises incrementally as the dance approaches, and the cost of tickets this past week was $25 with ASB and $30 without. Last year, Winterball tickets began at $15 with ASB and $20 without, and ultimately rose to $35 with ASB and $40 without.

Lundberg said that ASB reduced prices in order to increase all students’ access and ability to attend the dance.

“Dances are supposed to be fun and accessible to everyone,” Lundberg said. “It should just be a fun thing people can do without having to worry about paying for it.”

Students have noticed the lowered prices and expressed appreciation.

“I like the fact that they lowered the cost,” junior Joselin Cardenas said. “Last year it was too much money, and on top of [the ticket] girls have to buy other essentials for Winterball like dresses and heels. That’s not cheap.”

In order to keep prices low, Lundberg had to find ways to reduce the costs of putting on the dance. The total budget for the dance is set at $9,000.

The primary cost reduction was the venue, Rotary Summit Center. Last year, ASB looked into hosting a dance there but the price, $10,000, was deemed too expensive. However, this year ASB managed to negotiate the price down to $6,500 to rent the venue for the night.

Costs were also reduced by hiring two freestyle students to take pictures for the photobooth, as opposed to a professional company.

Furthermore, Lundberg chose to not allocate as much money to expensive decorations, such as the lighting scaffolding present at past dances.

According to Lundberg, ASB would like to make dances as accessible and inclusive as possible, but they cannot make them free to attend because dances also serve as an important fundraising function.

“The point of ASB is to put on events that people can go to and enjoy,” Lundberg said. “So we put on dances obviously so people can have fun and go to them. But also because it’s the one thing we can actually charge people for and bring back money from so we can put on other events.”