This year’s  Spring Fling concert will take place outside in the Lincoln Theater parking lot.

For the past two years the venue for such a popular concert event has been held in the Sports Center. The students’ voice has been heard and after a number of requests the concert has finally been moved back outside.

Director of Public Safety, John Schmaltz, has a number of years devoted to crowd control and crowd management.

He has worked at locations such as the Meadows and Bushnell Park, so managing a crowd is not new for this former police officer.

Schmaltz said that considering the history of Spring Fling the objective is to manage the crowd efficiently and minimize liability.

The new concert location outside of Lincoln Theater will accommodate students with water, food and port-o-lets.

There will be fencing to keep the students in one general location.

Though there will be food and beverages provided inside of the fencing, no open drinks, food or backpacks from outside the fencing will be allowed inside.

Public Safety officers as well as members of CAT will be making sure that everyone has a Spring Fling bracelet, and that students do not bring any unwarranted items into the concert venue.

Though you will be checked both for your bracelet, and beverages, you are allowed to come and go as you please. You may stay for a while, leave and come back at your leisure.

There are planned disperser routes, as well as escape routes in case of emergency.

“With the new system there will be no congestion points,” Schmaltz said.

This will allow students the ease of enjoying the concert, and not the worry of knocking into other rowdy or intoxicated students.

The concrete of the parking lot will also avoid injuries.

Within the past two years of the concert being held in the Sports Center there have been lesser injuries.

No matter the weather the concert will still be held outside, in comparison to the Sports Center, which provides crowd control, shelter, water, bathrooms, and can account for heating issues.

“Of all the students 80 percent of them are underage and ranging from 19 to 22 percent of the students are of eligible drinking age,” he said.

With the staggering amounts of underage drinking that takes place on the University campus during Spring Fling, the safety of the students is of the utmost importance.

The purpose of the fencing is to keep students in one general location to enjoy the concert.

There will also be a screening, so students cannot merely stand outside the fence to watch the concert while they participate in drinking  or various activities.

Schmaltz said, “This is to minimize day long binge drinking.”

Schmaltz said that Public Safety will support any campus event  and are not trying to be the bad guys.

He mentioned that if Public Safety officers were to check every single person with a cup it would ruin the atmosphere of Spring Fling and students would not participate.

If students did not participate in the outdoor events, it could lead to vandalism in the residential areas such as the Village Apartments.

The Public Safety officers will be on duty for 12-hour shifts, many of which will overlap.

Thursday there will be a few Public Safety Officers on duty, Friday there will be a half dozen, and Saturday there will be 12.

The number of officers on duty is to provide safety to the students.

Public Safety is taking every measure to ensure the safety of the students.

Regardless of the varying intoxication of students, the Spring Fling concert will once again take place outside.