FLING SPREAD: Let's do the Wild Fling

Classes are winding down. The weather is getting warmer, and wetter. It could mean only one thing -- Spring Fling is here. This year's installment of the annual end-of-the-year campus bash, dubbed "The Wild Fling" by organizers, is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. in the Quadrangle. By the time it's all over Saturday night, organizers hope to attract nearly 10,000 party-goers to Fling events in the Quad and on Hill Field. The festivities will take place in the Quad both Friday and Saturday afternoons between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. When the sun sets, the action will move across campus to Hill Field for two nights of entertainment. The Grammy Award-winning duo the Indigo Girls, this year's headline act, will play at Hill Field Friday night at 9:00 p.m. Gates will open at 6:15 p.m., just after events come to a close in the Quad. Fling Director Rob Cohen, a College senior, said Tuesday that over 3700 tickets had been sold for the concert, adding he hoped for a turnout of about 5000. Tickets cost $6 with a valid PENNcard. Although the music will be audible from the streets surrounding Hill Field, Director Denise Rubin said students will have a better experience if they buy tickets instead. Rubin, a College senior, said "the festive picnic atmosphere" which organizers hope to create within the gates will make the cost of the tickets worthwhile. She attributed the lower than usual ticket price to the Social Planning and Events Committee, which is co-sponsoring the concert with the Spring Fling Committee. "If it wasn't for [SPEC's] help, this thing wouldn't be happening," she said. "We wouldn't be offering such a popular act at such a low ticket price." The site of the concert has also helped keep the ticket price down. Organizers can sell up to 5000 tickets for Hill Field, compared to only about 1800 for Irvine. Saturday evening's events include an hour and a half of music with the Power 99 Electric Boom Box, followed by an air band competition featuring between seven and 10 lipsynching student entrants. Fling concludes at 9:00 p.m. with a laser light show. In the Quad, Fling will feature the traditional combination of local food vendors and performing arts groups. Fifteen vendors, including Allegro Pizza, Lee's Hoagies House and Jack & Jill Ice Cream, will set up shop in the Lower Quad. Local bands and student groups, such as Mask and Wig and Off the Beat, will provide the entertainment. Despite the full schedule, organizers said they realize the kind of bad weather which put a damper on last year's Fling can lay waste to all their plans. Since almost all of Fling will be held outdoors this year, its success will largely depend on good weather. "Let's pray because this will be eight months of planning down the tubes if it rains," organizer Todd Fruchterman said. But although weather forecasters were calling for possible rain this weekend, Rubin remained philosophical. "Of course it's kind of disappointing that after all this work, it could be rained out," she said. "But that's the risk we take of being in Philadelphia in April." In the event of inclement weather Saturday night, Irvine Auditorium will be used as an alternate site for the laser show and students will be admitted on a first come first served basis. But if inclement weather develops Friday night, the concert may be canceled, depending on the severity of the weather. There is no alternate site and tickets are not refundable. Assuming the concert goes as planned, security will be tight, according to Rubin. She said Spectraguard, University Police and Fling's own security team will help maintain order. To discourage anyone from attempting to trespass by hurdling the fence around Hill Field, Rubin said there will be a 15-foot security barrier between the fence and spectators. She said anyone who jumps the fence would be easily spotted in the "no man's land." So, just how wild will "The Wild Fling" be? Rubin said "the point of the theme is to get people excited," but not to make Fling any wilder than usual. "We hope that people as always will think before they act," she said. "We want people to have a good time but we don't want to see any damage, nothing that could hurt Fling or any other students." "We wanted to choose a theme that wouldn't tie us down to a specified locale or setting," Cohen said. " 'The Wild Fling' was more indicative of a presence of mind. The whole idea was to convey an atmosphere."

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