Plexiglass to Stay for Costello

The Undergraduate Council will not remove the plexiglass that encircles the floor of the Bright Hockey Center before the Elvis Costello concert despite complaints that the four-ft. high barrier will distort the sound in the front rows, council members and University officials said this week.

The Student Production Association (SPA), the council offshoot organizing the concert, and the Department of Athletics said it would take too much time and money to take the plexiglass down for the May 1 rock show. The shatterproof glass is a permanent fixture in the rink, serving in part to protect fans from players or airborne hockey pucks.

But students have criticized the council's decision to leave the plexiglass intact.

"If they are going to have a concert in Bright, they might as well have decent concert conditions without barriers that distort the sound," said Adam F. Carpenter '90, whose seat is located be hind the plexiglass.

University and council officials have claimed that leaving the gloss up is not a problem.

"There was a concert held there before and the plexiglass didn't obscure the sound," Assistant Athletic Director for Operations Scott H. Anderson said.

In addition, few people will be affected by the plexiglass because it is only high enough to distort the sound for students in the first three rows, Anderson said. Anderson said he did not know the cost of dismantling all the plexiglass because it has never been tried.

Taking down even one pane of the plexiglas has proven to be time-consuming and difficult in the past, Anderson said.

"We never really considered taking it down," said Jill N. Harrison '90, the co-chairman of SPA.

Leaving the plexiglass up also has merits in itself, Harrison said.

She said the plexiglass would serve as a safety measure to prevent concert-goers from climbing onto the floor. "It would probably decrease the number of security people needed," said Anderson.