ASUI Vandal Entertainment has designed a way for non-traditional students to reap the benefits of their student activity fees. Daytime Distractions, a program that brings performances into the Idaho Commons Food Court during lunch, has been added to the calendar of events for the spring semester. 
Colleen Quinn, director of student involvement, created the program Daytime Distractions as a part of Vandal Entertainment. Acts range from cooking shows to local singers such as Jacob Cummings, who performed Wednesday.
“I mainly work with Colleen Quinn to establish contacts with businesses in Moscow or people at the University of Idaho that have talents that they want to showcase,” said Lobna Abdel-Rahim, student director of Daytime Distractions.
Funding for Daytime Distractions is provided by a portion of student activity fees that is allotted to the Department of Student Involvement Programming Fund. Quinn said the costs for the program are minimal because most of the acts perform for free, leaving only the costs of setup and takedown.
“In starting the program I was thinking of it as a way for students to de-stress and as a means to create a sense of community,” Quinn said. “Daytime Distractions is for students to hang out and enjoy their lunchtime while maybe learning something new or finding a way to get involved.”
Abdel-Rahim said the Department of Student Involvement plans to have more entertainment through Daytime Distractions than last semester and hopes to keep moving forward with the program. Student feedback has been minimal, but students can make suggestions for performances and feedback by emailing [email protected], Abdel-Rahim said.
“I haven’t heard back from any students yet, but faculty member Rodney Frey said, ‘Thank you so much for putting on the daytime event, it was really neat to have that entertainment going on during the day,'” Quinn said.
Upcoming acts for the semester include “Cooking with Campus Dieticians” on Jan. 21, “Spectrum II Art and Dance Studio” on Feb. 7 and “Tall Heights Band” on Feb. 13.
Daytime Distractions take place in the Commons Food Court and all events occur from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Caroline Lincoln can be reached at [email protected]