We're getting Tesla and Firehouse this semester. Maybe if I say it enough times I can accept it.

Maybe not.

It's hard enough to accept the fact that smaller schools, even more isolated than Penn State, host names like The Connells, Hoodoo Gurus and The Samples. Are we doomed to be at the mercy of the mainstream?

Probably.

When pre-Top 40 R.E.M. came here in 1988, the show didn't do well. The same goes for Love and Rockets, who did poorly in 1989.

"If we take a chance, we're dead. We're belly up," said Blake Sarno (senior-applied analysis), chairman of the University Concert Committee.

The committee intends to appeal to a broad audience, and until tastes or ticket sales change, names like Tesla will be on the bill.

"We're trying to be diverse," Sarno said. "But we care whether or not it will sell, because if we lose money, we die."

Because UCC does not receive University funding and survives only on ticket sales, medium-sized acts are risky to book.

"It seems like we either get really big or really small," said Lisa Specht (junior-accounting), head of the concert committee for the Student Union Board.

"We should be getting bands somewhere in the middle."

Other schools, receiving funds from the administration, can allow for a bombed show every once in awhile and can also bring in some unknowns.

Denison University in Ohio, home to 2,000 students, has a program board with the largest working budget of all the campus' student groups. This highly selective group has been able to bring in a large number of smaller acts like Big Head Todd and The Monsters and The Spin Doctors.

So despite the fact that we are isolated between random cow patches, we are not unaccessible to bands.

"You have the perfect location," said Michael Jones, vice-president of Cellar Door Entertainment. "I deal with people so remote, so far out in the country, it's unbelievable."

Because we aren't located near a large city, we also don't have to worry about competing with city promoters. And our airport, in all its tiny glory, also doesn't factor in, because most groups don't travel by air, Jones said.

What do factor in, besides money, are the facilities on campus. Rec Hall, with a capacity of 5,000, is difficult to fill without a big name. If the show has a poor turnout, UCC ends up in the red, spending more money on expenses than it receives from ticket sales.

In contrast, schools like Virginia Tech, with Burruss Auditorium which seats 2,900, can host names like The Feelies, Throwing Muses and Indigo Girls, without losing out.

The same goes for George Washington University, which has a 1,500 capacity auditorium for smaller events like The Replacements and Fishbone, said Bret Caldwell, chairman of the program board for GWU.

Because Rec Hall is also used for sporting events, UCC must compete for dates before the bands are considered. Obviously, concerts take lower priority.

Dealing with a middle-agent who is the go-between with agents and schools, the committee works with the available dates and bands, considers ticket prices and expenses and ends with a majority vote.

With bigger names attracting broad audiences in Rec Hall, places like The Asylum in the HUB Ballroom can host local garage and downtown bar bands. Bands from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia like The Clarks, The Affordable Floors and the Sharks also play the HUB Ballroom. These events get a turnout ranging from 250 to 600 people, said David Grebos, adviser for The Asylum.

SUB can also satisfy the needs of smaller audiences, and it has brought Superchunk, Livingston Taylor and Beat Surrender to the HUB Ballroom.

But, alas, majority rules as far as concerts go, and it almost seems inevitable that it will always be that way.

We're getting Tesla and Firehouse. But maybe I'm the only one who's complaining.

"I'm glad to see they've got some music oriented towards youth," said Mary Jo Schleicher (senior-English). "At least it's somebody who's had a hit song recently. They get The Hooters, and it's like, 'who cares?' "