Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series looking in depth at the proposed concert fee.

With the continuing work being done to make the University Board proposed concert fee a realty, the UB is in the process of looking into performers students would like to see on campus, such as Nelly.

Nelly has an upcoming performance at Murray State University, in Murray, Ky. on March 25 and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale on March 30.

Both of these schools have a larger arena than what Eastern can offer. The SIU Arena seats up to 10,000, Michelle Suarez, deputy director of the SIU Arena, said. And Murray State holds 7,786, Amy Maness, administrative assistant at Murray’s Special Events Center, said Wednesday.

Lantz Arena is a facility of 5,300 seats, and different schools have differing opinions on whether a big act like Nelly would play a facility that size.

Jeanie Morgan, coordinator of student activities at Murray State University, said Wednesday most acts won’t even talk to organizations with facilities of less than 10,000, but it depends on the location and reputation.

Morgan said booking concerts was difficult at Murray State before their Special Events Center was built. However, she said Murray State has an extensive reputation with performers.

Some other schools have a more optimistic view of the possibilities. Kevin Ullestad, director of the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, said Nelly would likely play a facility like Lantz.

In addition, several other Illinois schools have facilities around the size of Lantz Arena and report they may have some difficulty, but they do draw in big-name acts.

On the subject of funding, Murray State is the more similar to Eastern, as they are funded through student fees, though not a specific concert fee. SIU at Carbondale is independently funded.

Murray State’s Student Government Association is funded through student fees, and a portion of that budget, $24,000, is allotted for concerts, Morgan said.

The remaining cost of a performance is made up through ticket sales and merchandise revenue.

Tickets for the Nelly performance are selling at $15 for students and $20 for everyone else, Morgan said.

Ticket sales for the event have gone “through the roof,” Maness said.

Ticket prices are reduced for students, as they would be at Eastern, since student fees fund the concert. However, some performances may be reduced only by a little, or none at all, such as a Dave Matthews performance, Morgan said.

“We are here to program for the students,” she said.

Over the past two years, Murray State has seen Three Doors Down, Nickelback, Garbage, Dave Matthews and Vince Gill, among others, Morgan said.

Information distributed to Eastern students during the concert fee campaign stated Nelly’s asking price as $60,000, though Morgan said that price is now $100,000 following Nelly’s American Music Award and two Grammy nominations.

However, the asking price may not be the price that is paid to the artist, Morgan said. They go through an agent and submit an offer, for the artist to accept or not accept.

A price is reached through that negotiation, though Morgan could not divulge the amount Murray is paying Nelly for his performance.

Morgan said an important aspect of this process is building relationships with agents, because the continuity is what improves reputation.

“I’ve been doing concerts for a long time,” she said.

The Nelly concert at the SIU Arena, taking place March 30, is not funded by student fees, Suarez said. Money generated from shows goes toward future events and employee salaries.

Tickets for the SIU concert are $18 and $24 for reserved seats, depending on location, Suarez said.

“The response thus far has been very, very positive,” she said.

SIU’s tickets went on sale Saturday and were sold using a wrist band system for places in line, according to SIU’s Web site.

Another upcoming concert is REO Speedwagon and Styx, playing at SIU on Feb. 28, the university’s Web site stated.

Other shows that have taken place in the SIU Arena include Garth Brooks and Elton John, Suarez said. The Elton John show, which took place in March 1999, was a solo show , and the SIU Arena was one of only two facilities in Illinois to host him at that time.

The SIU Arena hosts many different types of shows, including Sesame Street Live, the Harlem Globe Trotters, consumer shows and high school sporting events such as super sectionals, Suarez said.

“We do a variety of things here,” she said.

Concerts at Eastern previously were put on through a zero-based budget, meaning all money to cover the event came from ticket sales. However, UB members have said that losing money on concerts, loss of seating in Lantz Arena due to remodeling and rising artist costs have made a zero-base budget impractical. If the fee is passed through all the necessary channels, Eastern will have a similar budget system as other state universities, except for SIU at Carbondale.

The UB’s proposed $5 per semester concert fee passed the student elections one week ago and must now be approved by the Student Senate; Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs; interim President Lou Hencken and the Board of Trustees.

If the fee makes it through the process, it will be implemented next fall, and UB members have said the funds will be used to bring in a concert for that semester’s Family Weekend.