How deep is the scratch? Can you actually feel it? or only see it?
If you cant feel it ( try using a finger nail ) then it can be buffed out.
But if it's a gash and not a scratch I would first look up the hardware specs to see how thick the glass. More than likely it's plenty thick to buff out.
Pretty much any cd store or dvd store that buys and sells will have a buff wheel in the back perfect for this, they can easily buff scratches, but not gashes.
Unless there total jerks I bet just asking them if you could use it for a second and they would let you. It's easy, and who knows maybe you can buff up the rest of the pad real quick too.
Make sure you find out if there is any coating on the glass, this would get buffed out and cause mroe problems. I don't really know much about the construction but you need to make sure you find out the glass is more than a few hairs thick.
Buffing out scratches will destroy the coating on the iPad screen. It might destroy the touch sensitive area where the scratch is an you might introduce new scratches as well. If you decide to try to buff out the scratch on the screen you will lose your Apple warranty on the iPad.
I've have buffed out scratches on optical glass and mirrors... It can take hours and even days. It's not for the faint hearted.
