What the Bell?

You might have noticed the huge crowds in front of the Musical Arts Center last Thursday. Pandemonium broke loose because of free Joshua Bell tickets. Everyone who’s anyone was either standing in line or sent their secretary. To have a chance of getting tickets you had to stand in line for at least three hours. I don’t think any work got done at IU that day, and many went home disappointed.\nPeople started lining up at about 7 a.m. When the box office opened at 11:30 a.m., the line was enormous. Not only was the reception area of the MAC clogged with a winding line of people, but there were scores outside, too. I don’t suppose that the MAC administration is blind, but it stubbornly refused to add more clerks to speed up the process. \nIt’s not like there was a staff shortage. At any given time, there were at least five people pretending to manage the crowd. Because the people in the crowd seemed to have an average age of 60, a riot was unlikely, although I would have loved to see the geezers break out their canes and walkers and go on a rampage.\nHow did the MAC administration mismanage the whole situation? Let me count the ways. First, given that Joshua Bell performances generally sell out, demand for free tickets is exponential. Instead of the MAC, the IU Auditorium should have been booked. And don’t tell me it couldn’t have been done; Michael McRobbie’s inaugural jazz concert was held in the IU Auditorium. \nSecond, who still makes people get tickets from a box office? Tickets should be available online. No one has the time to wait in line for three hours when it’s possible to order tickets from the comfort of one’s computer instantaneously. If IU prides itself in technological prowess, it would make sense to utilize an online box office for these types of performances. Otherwise, IU is not different from the good ol’ Soviet Union with its Byzantine system of lines and shortages.\nMy third and most crucial point: Many people who got tickets were either retired, townies or individuals who have a secretary. Hundreds of them descended upon the MAC because they don’t have to go to class. Joshua Bell is IU faculty. When he visits IU, his purpose should be to educate students. This can be accomplished by having IU students see his performances. But the MAC didn’t reserve any seats for students. Out of hundreds of seats, only a handful went to students. Many music students, who may have come to IU because of an opportunity to see Joshua Bell, didn’t get tickets. \nThe MAC administration seemed to do its best to keep Bell’s performance mum on campus. It didn’t publicize his performance with the IDS, only with the Herald-Times. It didn’t reach out enough to the Jacobs School. Graduate music students probably had no idea Bell was going to hold a concert until it was too late. Everyone I know wanted to get tickets but couldn’t. If IU continues marketing the Music School to students by using Joshua Bell, then the university should give the student a chance to see his performances. Otherwise, it’s outright fraud.