Fling heads hold opinion forum

People get drunk. People eat ribs. And it always rains, according to College senior Rob Engs. But to many, Engs' comments do not fully describe the University's annual celebration, Spring Fling. Last night, the 1993 Spring Fling Committee held their first meeting to address problems about a dozen students saw with previous Flings. While the planners advertised the forum to the entire University community, Fling coordinators told a Daily Pennsylvanian reporter that their comments were off the record, although they later agreed that portions of what they said could be printed. Many students at the meetings said they were disappointed with last year's main band, Blues Traveler. "Most people I knew didn't even know who Blues Traveler was," Wharton senior Terrence Alford said. Alford is the co-chairperson of the Social Planning Events Committee Minority Concerns Committee. Much of the meeting was spent discussing the logistics of signing a well-known band. College and Wharton senior Jeffrey Anapolsky, co-director of Spring Fling, said the University's competition with more influential booking agencies, the restrictions of the rigid concert date, the small-sized Hill Field site and the band's affordability make the process of acquiring a popular band complicated and arduous. "One of the biggest constraints is financial," said College senior Matt Jacobson, another Fling co-director. The possibility of hiring several lesser-known bands which would appeal to a wide variety of listeners or using Franklin Field as a concert site was also discussed. In the past, many minority community leaders have said they believe Spring Fling does not promote multiculturalism. Some students at the meeting also said they found Spring Fling's controversial reputation as being a mainly "white festival" inaccurate. "I was never aware of the stereotype" said Elton Doi, a Wharton and Engineering senior. In an attempt to culturally diversify this year's Fling, Committee members said they will be placing advertisements in The Daily Pennsylvanian soliciting non-paid performers from the general public. College senior Joe Kim, who is a co-chairperson of SPEC Minority Concerns Committee, said he believed the Spring Fling Committee should work with the West Philadelphia community. "I don't think Spring Fling has made an effort to reach out to the community," Kim said. "There is a lot of potential out there that has not been tapped." The Committee chairpersons also asked students to encourage their peers to attend their first general meeting which will be held on November 4 at 7 p.m. in Bodek Lounge.