Constructing across the University is forcing PAC to regroup. The University has seen simpler times. In the days before e-mail and computer-chip-equipped ID cards, when Mask and Wig and Penn Players rounded out Penn's performing arts scene, to have 35 different performing groups probably seemed unimaginable. Today, the number of performing groups recognized by the Performing Arts Council reaches that number -- and those positions are coveted. After Provost Stanley Chodorow told PAC last year to hold off expansion while the renovation of some important venues -- Houston Hall and Irvine Auditorium, specifically -- cramps space, nascent groups are learning that PAC membership has its privileges. And PAC members -- along with the organization itself -- are faced with the task of a re-assessment. "Our goals change every year," explained PAC Co-Chairperson Elizabeth Scanlon, a College senior. "But I see this executive board as really working with the administration to find more space and working with student groups to examine their mission." Formed 10 years ago to organize the ever-burgeoning performing arts community, PAC has been the administration's tie to the needs of Penn's dancers, actors, comics and musicians. PAC membership is necessary before a group can join the Student Activities Council -- and hence be eligible for University funding. And because campus has always had limited space, PAC has a partial monopoly on its distribution. "If a group is serious about performing, it's a member of PAC," Scanlon said. Indeed, it is PAC that holds monthly meetings with Valerie Swain-Cade McCoullum, the vice provost for university life. It is PAC that lobbied for new options when it learned that vital spaces it was using were in jeopardy. It is PAC that put a detailed write-up of its members' space needs on line in 1995, and PAC that walked around with Executive Assistant to the Provost Linda Koons last year to survey campus for possible options. "Having PAC is a really good idea," Chodorow said. "You could talk to 30 to 40 student groups, each with its own story, [but] PAC has taken on [organization] by itself. That's real student government," he added. Representing four subcommittees -- SMAC (Singers, Music and Comedy), AC (A Cappella), DDAC (Dance) and TACKY (Theater Arts) -- PAC has provided a "security" for its members through the transitional "interim" period before 2000. Space Solutions Even when the Annenberg School Theater is restricted in May to performing arts groups in order to make way for the coming Public Policy Center expansion, when Houston Hall goes under renovation next year and while construction to Irvine Auditorium continues, most of the University's performing arts groups will be able to rehearse, perform and operate. This is primarily because PAC has helped find alternate space. To cope with losses both temporary and permanent, the University has leased two new spaces -- a scene shop at 4100 Walnut Street and the 450-seat MTI Theater at 37th and Chestnut streets. Additionally, the University has received permission to use the St. Mary's Church at 40th Street and Locust Walk for rehearsal space. In order to orchestrate the "interim period," however, Chodorow placed an informal moratorium on the number of PAC groups last year. "You can't work with a moving target," he said. So PAC kept its membership under control, and in turn, the administration tried to satisfy the group's requests. Granted, transition from current to new space hinges on a few unknowns. City inspection and plumbing kept the 4100 shop space from becoming usable until two months after its scheduled July 15 opening. And although few are questioning that the MTI Tabernacle theater will be viable by the time groups need it in January, PAC is uneasy about banking on anything. "There are lots of good plans in place," said Engineering senior Ron Isaacson, PAC co-chairperson. "I'm just concerned with the follow-through. If if the delays are as long as they were for 4100 Walnut, we're going to be in big trouble. It seems like we've had more of our share of problems." Isaacson added that many of PAC's current concerns -- surrounding office space once Houston Hall closes -- are relevant to a population much broader than the performing arts community. "When Houston Hall closes I think we're really gonna be in the rough, and it's not entirely clear yet where transitional office space will be," he said. "But it probably won't be more difficult for us than for other student groups." And in the year 2000, PAC -- albeit with mostly new members -- should have facilities that are highly superior to what exists now. "We're spending a lot of time on space issues," Chodorow said. "In the year 2000? it's going to be [an all-around] vast improvement." Amending the PAC Constitution Amidst the turmoil surrounding space, the question of performance group redundancy has been brought to the forefront of discussion. "[The Perelman Quad project] prompted a lot," Scanlon said. "And we have to fix the constitution. We want to become better." While the University undoubtedly sees its numerous groups as an attractive feature and a point of pride, different performing arts groups undoubtedly cover similar territory. And a few are wondering whether this is unfair for unique groups who want to join PAC, but have been prevented due to necessary parsimony. The most common example of such redundancy is a cappella groups -- of which Penn has a booming 12. But while a cappella is often fodder for criticism for the overlapping of PAC groups, its demands for rehearsal space are minimal. The groups can rehearse almost anywhere -- from the American Diner to Chimes Cafe -- and are otherwise self-supporting, Koons said. But other PAC groups do have preference for space -- and they take advantage of it, limiting resources for outside organizations. Much of the controversy stems from an aspect of PAC's constitution that has been widely interpreted over the years: groups must put on a performance to qualify for membership, in addition to writing a constitution. In recent years, PAC has required that groups perform for an audience comprised of at least 50 percent students. Faced with less-than-ideal spaces and hours for rehearsal, budding groups see the situation as a sort of Catch 22. Meanwhile, groups already in PAC have felt little pressure -- until now. "Currently, there is no mechanism for saying 'get busy or get out'," Scanlon noted. "And institutional memory is so short, groups go through fluctuations every year." PAC held its first meeting regarding constitutional change October 6. Among the reforms planned: a "unique" clause mandating that all groups establish mission statements that differ in goal and the installation of a mission review system. SAC has always had a similar unique clause, though groups sometimes stray from their mission statements. But citing SAC's revocation of Circle K's funding last April due to its shared mission with Kite and Key, Isaacson stressed that PAC would not do anything "iron-fisted." "It's much too touchy a subject to make an example of that," he said. In fairness to start-up groups, PAC plans to remove the requirement that groups perform before they join, although performance will be recommended and must be intended at some point. As for the results of the proposed constitutional reform, Scanlon is optimistic. "I think you might see the consolidation of a few groups -- groups seeing that they can help each other rather than just starting a new group," she said.
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