Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Silencing a controversy -Councilor seeks to keep cellphones out of theaters and movie houses

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 14:17:21 -0500

Silencing a controversy -Councilor seeks to keep cellphones out of theaters and movie
houses

 By Donovan Slack, Globe Correspondent, 4/3/2003

 They tweet, they buzz, they bleep. Some play a rousing rendition of ''The Star-Spangled
Banner.''
 But during the emotionally charged climax of Puccini's ''La Rondine,'' when Magda tells
Ruggero
 she must leave him because he is too good for her, nothing is more ruinous than the ring
of a cellular
 telephone, says Boston Lyric Opera conductor Stephen Lord. ''It's just ghastly when that
happens,''
 Lord exclaimed. ''It's like having your wedding night ruined by a fire alarm.''

 The ringing of pagers, cellphones, and other electronic devices in Boston theaters has
become a
 nightly occurrence, some say, and a group of city councilors wants to outlaw them in all
''places of
 public performance,'' including movie houses, museums, and comedy shows.

 ''This is an increasing problem,'' said Councilor John Tobin, who introduced a proposed
ban at
 yesterday's council meeting. ''This will put the law in the hands of theater managers and
owners.''

 Under the ordinance, any employee would be authorized to confiscate cellphones, pagers,
even
 Palm Pilots when their electronic chirps and beeps go off during a performace. Violators
would get
 their phones back at the end of the show but could face a $50 fine for each offense. New
York
 City passed a similar ban last month, garnering rave reviews from performers and audience

 members alike. Boston would be the second city in the country to adopt such a measure if
the
 council and Mayor Thomas M. Menino approve it. The idea has ''a lot of merit,'' the mayor
said
 yesterday.

 But wireless industry advocates say efforts here in Boston and across the country to
regulate
 cellphone use are going too far, with some trying to ban their use while driving, while
riding public
 transportation, and now, while watching a show or movie.

 ''Coughing and unwrapping throat lozenges is disruptive, too, but it's not illegal,''
said Travis Larson,
 a spokesman for the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications and Internet
Association.

 Larson points to a society in transition, grappling with the task of defining norms and
hence,
 boundaries, for electronic telecommunications devices. The number of wireless customers
in the
 United States broke the 100 million mark only three years ago, he said, and in the time
scale of
 technological innovation, that's a very short time.

 ''As a nation, we're still working out when it's polite, when it's not to use a cellular
phone,'' Larson
 said. Putting more laws on the books in an attempt to solve the problem will only result
in bloated
 bureaucracy w ith little hope of enforceability, he said.

 Larson can count on at least some support from Boston patrons and performers, including
Lord,
 who called the proposed ban ''Draconian.''

 ''We don't need another law; we need people to be reminded in a better way,'' said Lord,
musical
 director at the Boston Lyric Opera for the past 12 years and conductor this week of ''La
Rondine''
 at the Shubert Theatre. ''I really believe that theaters are wimping out. Before we make
the ushers
 policemen, we should make them tougher hall monitors.''

 But ushers across the street at the Wang Theater, where performers said cellphones go off
almost
 every night, contend the proposed ban would give them the authority they need to be
tougher.
 Robin Jones, assistant chief usher since 1978, already confiscates cameras and would
welcome the
 opportunity to do the same with cellphones and pagers.

 ''Love it,'' Jones said of the proposed law. Pinpointing offenders and enforcing the ban
would not
 present any problem at all, she said. ''A lot of times, people around them are so
annoyed, they'll
 point them out.''

 Some patrons milling in the lobby before Boston Ballet's ''All Balanchine'' show Tuesday
night said
 they are self-policing and don't need the threat of confiscation and fines. Longtime
ballet, opera,
 and symphony subscriber Fran Feldman of Lexington said she could not remember the last
time a
 cellphone or pager rang in the middle of a performance. ''A law is probably
unnecessary,'' she said.
 ''No one wants to be embarrassed like that.'' But while the traditionally older patrons
of the ballet,
 opera, and theater may be self-policing, younger people who frequent movie theaters
present a
 greater threat to peaceful enjoyment of the arts, Tobin said.

 ''I went to a movie in the Fens a couple weeks ago, and I could barely hear the show with
all the
 kids talking on their cellphones,'' he said.

 It could be months before a ban is approved by the City Council and signed by Menino. In
the
 meantime, at least one stand-up comedian has a quicker solution. ''I think we should just
have a
 button to blow them all up,'' said Tony V, a headliner at Boston's Comedy Connection, who
said
 his act is routinely interrupted. ''I'll sometimes take the phone and answer the call for
them. It's one
 thing to get heckled by the audience. It's another to get heckled from another area
code.''

http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/093/metro/Silencing_a_controversy+.shtml

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