NO REEL MONOPOLY

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I should like to comment on last week's editorial concerning the agreement that was drawn up by Ivy Films, the HLU, and the UN Council regarding the showing of movies during the coming year. This agreement was reached at a meeting called by the Student Council and presided over by the Council's president, Paul Sheats. Because I do not believe any of the arguments in the editorial to be either cogent or valid, I will reply briefly.

The agreement among these organizations had two specific purposes: to eliminate harmful and unnecessary competition among themselves, and to establish a coordinated film series that will not jeopardize the University's tax-free status and thus meet with the approval of the Dean's office. Each of these purposes was realized. The agreement was concerned solely with the three groups involved, and was not directed in any way at other undergraduate organizations.

I fail to understand the reasoning that leads you to conclude that this agreement will establish a "virtual monopoly" on the undergraduate film-showing market. Under the terms of the agreement these three groups expect to present an integrated film series that will include twenty or twenty-four individual dates throughout the academic year. Since those same three groups last year showed a total of over forty films, it is difficult to perceive the manner in which they are affording more competition to other prospective film-showing groups than last year. The charge that these twenty-odd showings will constitute a "virtual monopoly" is completely ridiculous.

Incidentally, the "many other organizations that showed films last year" total four; they showed a combined total of six movies. Two of these groups were language clubs, which encounter no difficulty in procuring permission to exhibit, since their movies, produced in the language the club purports to study, are of an obviously "educational" character. A third group, The Advocate, which showed three of the films, has decided not to show movies this year. A. C. Beilenson '54   Chairman, Council Committee on Extracurricular Activities.