A BOOKING OFFICE

The suggestion embodied in the communication printed in an adjacent column of the CRIMSON this morning is worthy of consideration. As the writer of the letter in question points out, today is not the first occasion this year upon which serious conflicts between undergraduate events have occurred. Had there been in operation a central "booking office," misunderstandings could, in the great majority of cases, have been easily avoided.

At present the methods of scheduling mass meetings, speeches, concerts and athletic contests at the University are highly diversified. Dinners and addresses in the Union are authorized by the Union management; musicals and Glee Club entertainments are approved by the regent, as are also student gatherings in college halls; the make-up of the sports calendar is subject to the revision of the Athletic Committee. There is no coordinating medium, however, and as a result it is difficult to choose in advance the most favorable day for this or that event.

The question logically should revert to the Student Council, under the authority of which body there should be little trouble in arranging for an agency to have general oversight of the student calendar. Would not the appointment of a single undergraduate, with whom all organizations would be compelled to register important dates, be sufficient? By such a scheme the cumbrousness of a committee would be avoided, and ceneralization of control would be made doubly certain. The hours for all scheduled meetings and games could be entered in a book which would be placed in some conveniently located spot, always open to consultation. Naturally, the student "bookkeeper" would in no way usurp the position of the present authorities. He would have no powers of consenting or refusing to allow meetings to take place on certain dates; his duties would include only the careful listing of future events, in order that managers might avoid conflicting dates which so often prove mutually disadvantageous.

Several years ago a similar plan was given a spasmodic trial, but failed, despite its acknowledged value, because it lacked the official sanction of the Student Council. Such a scheme can succeed only when it is required that all meetings open to the whole or a large part of the undergraduates be listed. If this provision is enforced, the plan is deserving of a fair trial.