By Carly Maitlen
Entertainment Editor

The Purdue and Greater Lafayette communities will miss out on a touch of culture this year because the 2000 Global Fest has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts.

According to those working with West Lafayette mayor Sonya Margerum, the conflict with the Purdue football game is the main reason for the cancellation. Not only would parking be extraordinarily cramped with two events going on at the same time, but there would also be a shortage of manpower. The police would be doing double duty to protect people at both events and it was also hard to find people to work booths at the Global Fest since many would be attending the game.

Other factors were the schedules of several Purdue organizations, such as Purdue Musical Organizations and ROTC, both of which participate in the naturalization ceremony at the Global Fest. Since these groups would be performing at the football game, the Global Fest would then be left without their services.

The city searched for another potential date to no avail. All the other weekends were packed with events such as the jazz fest and hectic travel times, such as the weekend before the fall semester begins when students are moving into their dorms and apartments.

For the student organizations that participate in the event, the Global Fest is a big chunk of their fund-raising opportunities and funds.

Pablo Malavenda, assistant dean of students, said the event is a way for the community to come together and celebrate different cultures.

"This was a great way for a number of student organizations to connect with the community," said Malavenda. He named foods, holidays and other areas that can be identified with particular cultures. Malavenda said this will cut into the fund-raising abilities for several organizations, including the Turkish Student Association, which receives nearly half of its funding from the fest.

"That's a pretty strong organization … I think they have the leadership and the creativity to come up with something for an alternative," he said.

Now the quest to find something to replace the fest for this year is underway. Malavenda said the Kitchen Table, a student organization at Purdue, has held different international and cultural events.

"There are some other opportunities for things like that now. I think the (Kitchen Table) is a student organization that can take the lead and do something like that," said Malavenda. "It will be a loss this year. I think it has become such an event for this community. Part of what they inspire to do is to educate the rest of us on their culture and traditions.

"This has always been a creative program to help them achieve that. I think as we become more diverse, it becomes more important," he said. "I look forward to them bringing it back in 2001."