Council Picks Band, Plans 'Fallfest'

Last night at the Undergraduate Council’s final meeting of the year, the council confirmed the Harvard Concert Commission’s (HCC) choice of Dispatch, an up-and-coming Boston band, to perform in Sanders Theater some time next fall.

Council Vice-President Sujean S. Lee ’03 said HCC, of which she is a co-founder, recently chose the band after hearing numerous requests for it and after determining that it was available and affordable. She said their performance fee would be $12,500-much less than the $30,000 that HCC spent on the Roots and the Black Eyed Peas last winter.

“I think Dispatch is popular at Harvard and students will be happy with them,” Lee said.

She added that HCC’s ongoing fundraising effort will continue over the summer and will include cultivating a possible sponsorship from the sportsdrink company Redbull. The money for the Dispatch concert, however, is already within the council’s possesion according to Lee.

In addition, the council approved a $5,000 preliminary allocation for the first annual “Fallfest”—an event sponsored by the Campus Life Committee (CLC) that council members hope will become Springfest’s seasonal counterpart.

“Springfest was a big success,” said CLC Chair Melissa A. Eccleston ’04. “I hope Fallfest will be just as good.”

The council also passed an acclaimation to recommend to the faculty a series of changes designed to improve the amount of choice within the Core curriculum.

According to the bill’s author, council member Rohit Chopra ’04, “the short-term remedies include bringing in a slew of departmental alternatives to alleviate the current shortage, being more lenient on granting petitions to grant Core credit for departmental courses which fit the basic goals of a Core area, and the appointment of Faculty subcommittee chairs who aggressively recruit their colleagues to teach Core courses.”

Council members say they hope to see changes starting next year.

The council unanimously adopted graduating council member Sterling P.A. Darling’s ’01 proposition to send Rudenstine a letter “expressing the official congratulations and appreciation of the council for the service of the 26th president of Harvard University.”

Darling said that students do not have to agree with everything Rudenstine has done to recognize his impact upon the lives of Harvard’s undergraduates.

The council’s final noteworthy bill, James R. Griffin’s ’02 “Resolution to Encourage the Improvement of Cambridge Commons Softball Field” passed 29-1. The bill instructs the council to contact the City parks service to request that grass be replanted and that the field’s pitching rubber and home plate be replaced.

Denying that his bill symbolically blamed poor field conditions for the Crimson’s 23-2 rout of the council in softball two weeks ago, Griffin said all student groups who use the field could benefit from its restoration.

Council President Paul A. Gusmorino `02 closed the meeting by giving a speech to highlight the council’s accomplishments over the course of the term, praising the council for its efforts to extend party hours, its work on Springfest and HCC.

He also bestowed upon two long-time, outgoing council members achievement awards.

Jeffrey A. Letalien `01 earned the Council Hall of Fame Award and Todd E. Plants `01 received an award for years of dedication to the council.

After quipping that if he does not finish six papers due next week, he might not be around next semester, Gusmorino said he was proud of the council’s accomplishments this term.

“The members of the UC has lived up to its responsibility,” Gusmorino said. “I’m excited about next fall.”

—Staff Writer Alexander B. Ginsberg can be reached at ginsberg@fas.harvard.edu.