Sign Up, Please

YOU'RE GETTING THEM in the mail now--the antediluvian sprinklings from Harvard-Radcliffe organizations mobilizing for Registration Day drives in the fall. Once you cellists, editors, sopranos, and politicos arrive in September, zealous upperclassmen will besiege you to join the H-R This and That Club or at least put you on its mailing list. Soon torrents of literature will make you feel like the poor sucker Uncle Sam means when he points a gnarled finger and croaks, "I want YOU."

Enjoy the attention. It'll never happen like this again. And don't let anyone rope you into working or comping (a fancy word for competing, or trying out) for 100 different groups if you don't want to. There's a chance much of your undergraduate career will center on some organization, but you'll have to find out about academics here before you'll know exactly what you can handle. At Harvard, it really is impossible to be head of the Student Assembly, the Advocate and the orchestra and still maintain straight As.

The list of Harvard activities is enormous-- here are some of them, excluding athletics.

The Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC): probably the most active single-issue group around. The SASC is dedicated to educating students about, and persuading them to protest, Harvard's participation in South African apartheid through its investments in corporations that operate there.

Phillips Brooks House: a community action organization. PBH sponsors 13 volunteer programs in Boston and Cambridge ranging from tutoring schoolchildren to visiting prisons.

The Debate Council: polemics for the off-spring of exasperated mothers who continually moaned at your arguments, "You'll make a great lawyer someday." The council has won numerous tournaments and even national championships, but lack of funds prevents the Harvard team from admitting any but the dedicated few who survive the crushing fall comp.

Room 13: peer counseling. When your roommate goes berserk and your proctor has interview in Paducah, this counseling service, open in Stoughton North's basement from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., will bail you out and probably offer good advice and/or good cookies. You can also call even if your life isn't falling apart, since these students are used to questions on papers and trivia of all sorts. Interviews for Room 13 are held in the spring.

The Democratic Club: future politicos so beset with conflict they held repeat elections but still couldn't decide on a president last year--almost parallelling our current situation in Washington. The Club has no particular ideology, but it does publish the Democratic Review. At least one freshman has been known to sign up for both the Democratic and Republican Clubs, just to keep in touch with what wasn't going on.

The Republican Club: sponsors of a tepid invitation to Richard Nixon, who wisely chose not to speak at Harvard. The invitation itself, though, caused a massive rift in the club. Joining this one means you are a good candidate for getting corraled into a lot of schlock work.

The Student Advisory Committee: a haven for young politicos under the watchful wing of the Institute of Politics. The committee determines schedules for Institute seminars, sets budgets and generally wields a fair amount of power.

The Canadian Club: the official organization for the 70-odd citizens from north of here. They try to keep in touch with Ottawa politics through occasional dinners and meetings. They also throw big parties.

Harvard-Radcliffe Friends of Girlscouting: Savannah cookie lovers, unite.

La "O": the organization for Puerto Rican students, which works to promote a sense of community among them.

Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association: the organization for black students. HRBSA sponsors cultural and social events for blacks, and it supports many activist groups whose activities affect black students.

La Raza: the Harvard group formed by and for Chicanos.

Asian-American Association: the group for Asian-Americans at Harvard. The AAA works on recruitment and throws frequent parties in the Leverett dining hall.

Gay Student Association: a way to escape from a mad, straight world. The GSA provides fellowship, rap sessions and dances in Phillips Brooks House.

Mountaineering Club:... or how to get high.

Radcliffe Union of Students: a holdover to preserve Radcliffe identity. This is where the $5 each undergraduate woman is assessed goes, to finance individual projects and groups at Harvard and Radcliffe. If you are a Radcliffe student, you are automatically a member of RUS.

LOTS OF HARVARD STUDENTS write. In fact, most of them just love to gaze at their own printed words, so they write on an on. For those sybarites of the polysyllabic, these are the Harvard-Radcliffe publications.

The Independent: the weekly paper. The Indy mainly covers the major issues on campus, and generally has about two in-depth pieces, a page of news briefs, and pleasant reviews. It was conceived in 1969 by Harvard alumni and professors as an alternative to the more leftist Crimson, and its contents are middling to conservative.

The Advocate: America's oldest college publication. In a cozy building behind Kirkland House, artsy intellectuals gather around a big table to determine what poetry, prose and graphics will fill the quarterly. The quality of the contributions is erratic--some are outstanding. But the Advocate's reputation as the best party-giver on campus offsets its tough comps.

Seventh Sister: feminist paper written entirely by women. This paper has a generally angry tone, sometimes justified but often overblown.

Harvard Political Review: Gov major territory. This quarterly analyzes current political issues and solicits reviews from major political figures.

The Lampoon: the droll organization that brought you the Crimson parody earlier this summer. It was actually one of their best efforts.

The Crimson: the University daily. A lot of Harvard people are critical of the Crimson, but it does offer most students their best opportunity for daily reporting and writing.

WHRB: 95.3 on your FM dial. From rock to Rachmaninoff to r&b, HRB plays "orgies," hours of the work of almost any artist, and schedules some offbeat programming like "Hillbilly at Harvard."

Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club: erstwhile managers of the Loeb Theater. The Drama Club may lose some clout this year when Robert Brustein, formerly of the Yale Repertory Theater, takes over, but no one is sure just how their relationship will develop.

H-R Hillel: Hillel just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating. Not only does Hillel provide fellowship, it has the only kosher kitchen and some of the best food on campus.

H-R Catholic Student Center: servers of big spaghetti dinners. The Catholic Center sponsors get-togethers throughout the year, and they're generally enthusiastic.

H-R Christian Fellowship: fundamentalists at Harvard. HRCF meets every Friday night, as well as offering small Bible study groups and an annual retreat in October.

The Harvard University Band: the first college band to spell on the field. The Marching Band plays at half-times for football games, hockey, basketball and Commencement. Generally irreverent, the band boasts its own smut collection and its perennial Herr Schneider initiates fresh men to the feminine wonders of college life.

Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra: another musical first for Harvard. The 90-member group travels abroad and gives four concerts a year in Sanders Theater, ranging from classical to contemporary.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals: fun and pun on Holyoke St. Drag queens prance across the Pudding's yearly spectacle, written by undergrads. It's not quite Broadway, but the Pudding and New York's theater district share one trait: they both need lots of money.

Harvard Glee Club: grumbling emerges from Holden Chapel. Jameson Marvin, the new choral director, walked into a hostile situation and met limited success last year. The all-male chorus sings a varied but small repertoire. Its highlight traditionally is a tenor's rendition of "Loch Lomond."

Radcliffe Choral Society: women in long black dresses. And more classical music wafting up to the wooden ceiling of Sanders.

Collegium Musicum: 60 mixed voices. They perform often in local churches and Sanders Theater, with a repertoire from large choral works to unaccompanied Renaissance pieces.

The Krokodiloes: often confused with the symbol on Lacoste shirts. By and large they act macho and poke fun at the Pitches on stage, but hey, they sing well.

Everything from madrigals to the Beach Boys is now game for the Krocs, who don't read music and who turn up at odd performances throughout the year and vacation in Bermuda.

The Radcliffe Pitches: their name gets them into trouble sometimes. The women's a capella version of the Kroks, the Pitches try to be a cross between cabaret singers and Sweet Adelines, with campy results. It's all in fun, and worth it when they sing "In the Mood."

Bach Society Orchestra: a small, and hence selective, chamber music group. Their work is generally outstanding, especially on the part of their soloists.

Kuumba Singers: the all-black chorus dedicated to performing every sort of black music from spirituals to African folk songs to modern songs.