Word: springfests
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...eight proposed allocations of the council's $40,000 unbudgeted surplus would help fund next year's Springfest. And while this would provide the council with ample funds to attract bigger bands and performers, there is another way to sponsor Springfest without wasting the valuable $40,000 to pay for such an inconsequential event. Should Harvard's administration allow the council to form agreements with corporate sponsors, then not only could Springfest host more prominent music groups, but the $40,000 could be allocated to one of the other, more deserving, proposals...
According to Ryan E. Dorris '99, chair of the council's Campus Life Committee, corporate sponsors for an event like Springfest usually donate approximately $8,000 to a student government. In return, they receive a presence in the form of booths, information tables or perhaps even in the event's title. The council could host the Coca-Cola Springfest, for example, replete with red and white banners and other Coke promotional gimmicks...
Perhaps the policy is in place because the administration is trying to protect the Harvard name. But is it that degrading to our school's reputation to have a soft drink logo on the same banner as our veritas emblem? Springfest is an event sponsored by representatives of the student body, for the student body. And if corporate sponsors will help the council attract more popular performers, then so be it. If the administration fears that corporate sponsors would use Harvard's name for their own promotional purposes, the council could surely remedy this problem in their contract agreements...
...maybe the policy is in place because the administration fears our rather sedate Springfest will evolve into something like the Head of the Charles--an hysteria that rocks the Charles river-front each October. But just six corporate sponsors--enough to have booked Wyclef for this years event--handing out free samples or distributing information from five by five-foot booths strategically placed on the perimeter of the MAC Quad would hardly detract from Springfest's grandeur...
...administration should allow the council to contract with corporate sponsors to help fund Springfest. This would not only give the council the opportunity to improve their rather precarious reputation by allocating the $40,000 to more worthy proposals, but it would exponentially improve the prospects for a successful Springfest. Jordana R. Lewis is a first-year living in Thayer Hall...