By Jenny Schuster
Staff Writer

It's Wednesday night in the Purdue Convocations office, and the members of the Student Concert Committee are trickling into the building one by one for their weekly meeting.

"Have you seen the letter in the paper?" somebody asks. Another letter to the editor decrying the lack of "good bands" playing at Purdue was published in the Exponent, and although the committee members try to shrug it off, it's clear that some are bothered by it, and it's on their minds.

Mellisa Glaser, a senior in the Schools of Engineering and Student Concert Committee president, said, "People get mad at us, but we want to make them happy. We want to see these bands, too."

With such a large, music-loving campus, the committee has a lot of responsibility. The committee is composed of about 15 students from all schools at Purdue. Students interested in applying to become members must go through an intensive application process, including a written petition and several interviews. This year, according to Nishant Kothary, a sophomore in the School of Science and committee publicity chair, about 57 students applied to become members, and nine were chosen — a relatively large number due to the graduation of many members next spring.

Laura Clavio, Student Concert Committee adviser, said, "These kids work really hard. They have a lot of responsibility, and they make good decisions."

According to Clavio, the committee is self-funded, and the students are more like employees of a business than members of a club. "At Purdue, the (Student Concert Committee) isn't funded like similar committees at many colleges. Student activities fees here are not used to specifically support student concerts," she said.

Much of the criticism of the committee by students stems from a lack of knowledge about how the process of booking a band works. Kothary said, "Everyone thinks that we get to choose who comes here. In reality, the shows pick us. We put a bid out for artists that are passing through this area. We don't have any arena facilities — our largest facility is Elliott Hall of Music, which seats 6,000. It's too small for shows like Dave Matthews."

A major band on tour may get bids from 50 colleges, but its schedule may allow the group to play at only five or 10 of those schools, Clavio said. "What shows we get depends on a number of factors," she said. "When they're deciding where to play, bands are going to look at things like where they think they can make the most money, which schools have the best facilities and which school is the least out of their way. And even if a band is interested in playing here, it still isn't a done deal."

But Glaser said that the reward is worth all the frustration. "When we book a concert, it's so exciting. We're responsible for all the publicity you see on campus, and we help out backstage with lots of odd jobs. It all depends on the artist. For example, Bob Dylan has an entire catering service of his own. But we still do all kinds of things — do laundry, take their bus driver to a hotel so he can get some sleep or buy cigarettes for roadies."

Mike Scherenberg, a junior in the School of Technology and committee production manager, said, "On the day of a concert, our day begins at 7 a.m. - we cater breakfast for the artist, set up dressing rooms, organize backstage and run other errands. We have to make sure that their production crew gets everything they need during the day. A lot of the artists like to party, and, after it's all over, we get to clean out their dressing rooms and find all their interesting stuff. The day lasts until midnight, if we're lucky."

One of the perks of committee membership is meeting the artists who perform at Purdue. Kothary said, "The guy from Def Leppard was backstage kickboxing (before the show), and he was really friendly and would talk to you." Several members also met Tim Reynolds earlier this year and Third Eye Blind when the band played at Purdue in the spring.

Clavio said, "We try to conduct surveys at different shows in order to find out what students want to see, but I would encourage students to correspond with us directly to let us know what they want." For more information about the Student Concert Committee and contact information, visit www.convos.purdue.edu/SCC.