The Bucket Brigade

The Harvard Band, which must raise $4,000 in the next three months, has been placed on the preferred list of the Combined Charities Drive. This was done despite the dissimilarity between the Band and the other groups on the Charities list, and in the face of a better alternate.

The Council did provide a possible solution to the emergency problem which faced the Band after the loss of its music in the Varsity Club fire, and the Band accepted. But, it is obvious that giving a certain number of charity concerts during the year does not influence the nature of the Band enough to warrant its appearance on the Charities Drive List.

The precedent being set here is a bad one: many student organizations face financial difficulties, or even insolvency from time to time, and the Charities drive cannot be expected to bail them out.

The band ought also to keep in mind its prestige as a self-sustaining organization. Some members have pointed out that it might be damaged by having to depend upon charitable contributions.

The best solution is being precluded by a long-standing, iron-clad Corporation rule which forbids Harvard organizations, including the Band, to appear under commercial sponsorship. It would be particularly timely for the Corporation to examine the possibilities of modifying this rule.

The Band should be allowed to make a limited number of commercial appearances to meet the demand of the present emergency. The Band management, working with the Dean's office, can easily exercise selectivity in its exact choice of media. It should definitely be made clear that thse appearances involve no reversal in the Corporation's non-profitmaking philosophy for undergraduate organizations. There are occasions when the Band should be allowed to appear on its own behalf.