The Bryce Jordan Center (BJC) is the largest venue within a hundred miles of State College. Every year, it hosts 36 performances, in addition to numerous athletic and academic events. But under this sizeable schedule is a lot of sweat and tears.

Bernie Punt, manager of marketing for the Jordan Center, is in charge of scheduling everything that happens. "I think a lot of people don't realize that the BJC is a business," Punt said. "We receive no direct money from Penn State or any state subsidies."

The process through which events are scheduled for the center starts with one thing in mind, Punt said. "The university's athletic and academic events always get first priority," Punt said. "We have to make sure that every basketball game is scheduled before we even begin to program other events."

Punt said Neil Young had to be turned away this spring because of potential post-season basketball games. A common misconception regarding a band's touring schedule is that it is solely in the hands of the center to get the band to State College, when in fact, it is up to the promoter to work out the band's schedule.

Punt said the center has a fairly good reputation among promoters, but still loses money on some shows, which hangs heavy on its future reputation. "We now have a pretty bad relationship with Clear Channel promotions, because we lost money on Good Charlotte, John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers through them," Punt said.

Perhaps this is because of the high-ticket prices for the center's shows. Tickets for Prince on April 18 cost as much as $68.50, and some students might not have that kind of money. However, Punt said the center does try to account for this. "One of the first things we do when we schedule an act is ask the promoter for a student discount," Punt said. "The promoter sets all the prices, and in some cases, such as Incubus last year, they offer a discount. But a lot of the times they think they'll lose money, so they just won't comply."

There are some shows that never lose money, like Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews. But not all shows can be aimed at the student audience since the Jordan Center market includes people who live in and around Centre County, not only students, Punt said.

One student organization that is trying to fix these problems is the University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC). Last year, UPAC formed a relationship with the center to bring in more student shows and supplement the ticket costs. "Every University Park student pays $45 through their tuition to UPAC," committee chair Nicole Sandretto said. "Half of that money goes to the mortgage on the HUB, and the other is for student activities."

This year, UPAC gave the center $60,000 for ticket subsidies, Sandretto said. A UPAC committee also decided what shows to try to schedule and how much to subsidize. Committee member Jon Koltash (senior-finance and economics) said he hopes this relationship continues with the center. "This year, we subsidized Tracy Morgan, Toby Keith and Train," Koltash said.