"There must have been 600 people out there, at least," said Bernard Weinstein, professor of physics, the tone of his voice revealing disbelief. Lines of people waiting to get a closer look at Hale-Bopp through the telescope housed in the hutch stretched across the field to Skinnersville Road. "Parents' arms were getting sore from holding young children while waiting on line," Weinstein recalled.
It all began with a phone call to the physics department from Channel 7 weatherman Andy Parker, who wanted to know if Weinstein, who teaches the UB astronomy course-and is no relation to WKBW-TV's news anchor Irv Weinstein-was going to organize a public viewing of the comet at UB. "I hadn't planned anything because I didn't think that we had sufficient facilities and was unsure how to coordinate a public announcement with Buffalo's fickle weather," said Weinstein.
But Channel 7 was eager to provide a curious public with information on how to get the best view of the comet. "They told me the weather would be ideal April 1 and 2, and that if UB were to plan a public viewing, they would announce it on the news,'" said Weinstein. "So I said 'OK.'"
Channel 7 returned to film the event for the 11 o'clock news April 1. Channel 4 also sent a cameraman. WBEN Radio followed the next morning with an interview of Weinstein. While not everyone who showed up April 2 got to look through the telescope, Weinstein said he was "delighted to see that much public interest in science." Physics doctoral candidates Andy Nickel, Huicheng Chang and John Canellos provided technical assistance during the viewing.
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