Charity Begins at Holmes

The Radcliffe Fund Drive, which begins tonight, will be a welcome change from the College's charity drives in the past few years. For the first time, a committee has investigated the charities it is recommending and has provided the student body with complete information about them. Yet it is unfortunate that the Student Government Association decided not to run the drive in cooperation with the Harvard Combined Charities, since a combined effort would mean greater efficiency and would allow the Radcliffe drive to cash in on HCC publicity.

The reorganized Fund Drive is very similar to Harvard's in structure; each student can select one or more charities of her own choice or designate the money to go to the four recommended charities. The only real difference is Radcliffe's preference for a low-pressure effort. Students are invited but not urged to give. In the past this method has produced a small amount of money, which might be increased if the drives merged. If the Radcliffe committee wants to retain its genteel tactics, co-ordination would still provide an effective way of reaching the Radcliffe public. Spurred by the example of their more generous friends at Harvard, the 'Cliffies might even enlarge their donations voluntarily.