Council Gives Up On Dave Matthews

The $40,000 of forgotten funds which sat untapped in Undergraduate Council accounts for years will lie dormant a little while longer.

Last night the council abandoned an attempt to bring the Dave Matthews Band to campus and formed an ad hoc committee to consider how to spend the money.

The council also allocated funds for tailgate and victory parties during the weekend of the Harvard-Yale football game and voted to investigate the College's Administrative Board.

At the last council meeting of the fall semester, the new ad hoc committee will make a recommendation on how to utilize the recently found funds.

"The executive board came to a unanimous consensus that we were doing things too quickly," said Council President Beth A. Stewart '00.

The $40,000 consists of roll-over from previous council's term-bill revenues, which have been stored in the council's University account for years.

Campus Life Committee (CLC) Co-Chair Ryan E. Dorris '00 said the council decided not to pursue bringing Dave Matthews Band to campus because the event proved impossible to coordinate.

Dorris, who engineered the council's pursuit of Dave Matthews, said he had hoped to bring the band to the 3,900-seat Wang Center in downtown Boston since the biggest on campus venue, Sanders Theatre, holds only 1,100 students.

But the Dave Matthews Band will not be in the area on the dates when the Wang Center is available, and Sanders would not hold enough students to justify bringing the band, Dorris said.

Even if the Wang Center could have been used, Dorris said the cost of the event would have been prohibitively high.

In order to be competitive with other schools' bids, the council's offer would have needed to be between $50,000 and $75,000. Additional costs including renting the Wang Center would have totalled over $10,000.

Dorris said the council would have had tocharge $20 or more per ticket in order to make itsmoney back.

He added that he did not believe enoughstudents would be willing to fork over the ticketprice to make the event fiscally successful.

In addition, Dorris said spending more than$50,000 for the band would deplete the CLC's fundsmaking it difficult to fund events like thefirst-year formal.

Last year, the council allocated $20,000 tobring Sister Hazel to Springfest, but anothercollege outbid Harvard, posting an offer thecouncil could not match.

After considering proposals to rescheduleSpringfest, the council decided to feature onlystudent bands at the event.

But Dorris said this year's council still hasenough time to make a successful bid for aprofessional band.

Last year's Sister Hazel bid was not made untilFebruary, but Dorris said a proposal for thisyear's Springfest may be brought before thecouncil within a month.

He mentioned Blues Traveler and Phish as bandsthe committee was considering.

"Springfest will be better than ever," Dorrissaid. "We hope to bring a big name band thisyear."

Game Goodies

The council-sponsored celebrations for thisyear's Harvard-Yale game will feature pizza, sodaand "rowdy rags" but, unlike last year, they willnot include beer.

The council voted last night to spend $969 on avictory party in Loker Commons, which will featurea "battle of the bands" along with pizzas, chips,soft drinks and hot chocolate.

Around $1,700 will go to tailgate preparations,including about $1,425 for "rowdy rags" emblazonedwith the Harvard logo, which CLC Co-Chair T.Christopher King `00 described as "spirit items."

The council elected not to have beer at theevent because College rules make alcoholdistribution difficult.

At last year's Springfest, alcohol consumptionwas permitted only in a fenced off area away fromthe festivities.

King said by coordinating its efforts withother campus groups, the council was able to savemore than $2,000 on Game preparations as comparedto the cost of festivities when The Game was lastheld at Harvard two years ago.

Harvard Dining Services will provide foodfree-of-charge for the tailgate party and theBlack Students' Association is likely to providetransportation to and from The Game.

Administrative Inquiry

In an effort to investigate the actions of theAdministrative Board, the council also voted tocreate a new student task force.

The Ad Board, which handles disciplinary issuesand has the power to suspend and expel students,does not include student representatives and hasoften been criticized for the secrecy thatsurrounds its meetings.

John A. Burton '01, who heads the new taskforce, said he will appoint a maximum of 20students to the group. Any College student iseligible to become a member

Dorris said the council would have had tocharge $20 or more per ticket in order to make itsmoney back.

He added that he did not believe enoughstudents would be willing to fork over the ticketprice to make the event fiscally successful.

In addition, Dorris said spending more than$50,000 for the band would deplete the CLC's fundsmaking it difficult to fund events like thefirst-year formal.

Last year, the council allocated $20,000 tobring Sister Hazel to Springfest, but anothercollege outbid Harvard, posting an offer thecouncil could not match.

After considering proposals to rescheduleSpringfest, the council decided to feature onlystudent bands at the event.

But Dorris said this year's council still hasenough time to make a successful bid for aprofessional band.

Last year's Sister Hazel bid was not made untilFebruary, but Dorris said a proposal for thisyear's Springfest may be brought before thecouncil within a month.

He mentioned Blues Traveler and Phish as bandsthe committee was considering.

"Springfest will be better than ever," Dorrissaid. "We hope to bring a big name band thisyear."

Game Goodies

The council-sponsored celebrations for thisyear's Harvard-Yale game will feature pizza, sodaand "rowdy rags" but, unlike last year, they willnot include beer.

The council voted last night to spend $969 on avictory party in Loker Commons, which will featurea "battle of the bands" along with pizzas, chips,soft drinks and hot chocolate.

Around $1,700 will go to tailgate preparations,including about $1,425 for "rowdy rags" emblazonedwith the Harvard logo, which CLC Co-Chair T.Christopher King `00 described as "spirit items."

The council elected not to have beer at theevent because College rules make alcoholdistribution difficult.

At last year's Springfest, alcohol consumptionwas permitted only in a fenced off area away fromthe festivities.

King said by coordinating its efforts withother campus groups, the council was able to savemore than $2,000 on Game preparations as comparedto the cost of festivities when The Game was lastheld at Harvard two years ago.

Harvard Dining Services will provide foodfree-of-charge for the tailgate party and theBlack Students' Association is likely to providetransportation to and from The Game.

Administrative Inquiry

In an effort to investigate the actions of theAdministrative Board, the council also voted tocreate a new student task force.

The Ad Board, which handles disciplinary issuesand has the power to suspend and expel students,does not include student representatives and hasoften been criticized for the secrecy thatsurrounds its meetings.

John A. Burton '01, who heads the new taskforce, said he will appoint a maximum of 20students to the group. Any College student iseligible to become a member