You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can never please Emory people.

Last Friday's Wheel article concerning the Spring Band Party unfairly presents the Student Programming Council as a wasteful, unimaginative and out of touch organization. The Wheel fails to take into account the arduous process that goes into soliciting a band and putting on the event.

First, there have to be bands touring in the Southeast that fit into SPC's budget. Second, those bands must be willing both to play college venues and play during the day. About 90 percent of all bands are eliminated by these two factors. Throw in the fact that the spring of 2000 was an anomalous season for musical performances across the entire country as many bands were not touring and those that were recently jacked their prices out of SPC's range, and you have very slim pickings. Finding a good band to play this spring was like trying to find a virgin in a maternity ward; they just weren't out there.

The Wheel fails to mention that SPC initially approached various acts like Ben Folds Five, G-Love and Special Sauce, Weird Al Yankovic, Rage Against the Machine and Santana. Blessid Union of Souls was not our first choice. To allege that SPC is mismanaging student funds is a gross and ignorant assumption.

When you go to the Spring Band Party this Thursday, please remember the most important word in the event: PARTY. The event is there to create a festive environment and break away from the monotony of the school year. Music isn't the focus of the event; it's more of an excuse to have a fun afternoon in the spring. Enjoy the free food, beverages and other festive trappings of the Spring Band Party, and if you don't like the music, bring your earplugs.

Adam Warden
Spring Band Party Chair

Om Kakani
SPC President

Finally, after much inquiry and effort, Emory has finally found out that Blessid Union of Souls will be headlining this year's Spring Band Party. Funny how that the Wheel was able to share this seemingly invaluable piece of information with us, the common plebeians at Emory.

I have kept tabs on this situation through the Spring Band Party conference on LearnLink and it has been of little help. When I first started to check the conference, the Student Programming Council was still looking for suggestions on bands. This was in February.

On Feb. 26, Peter Luskin, SPC member, posted that the group had "narrowed the band groups down to seven likely candidates, unless we get an overwhelming demand for another group, that is in our price range, has a decent following, is touring in the dirty South, and certainly not least, if I like them."

Keeping with SPC's vow of secrecy, the names of these seven bands were not posted, despite several requests. Also, who decided that the band that will be playing must be liked by Luskin? Isn't this concert for all of Emory students?

On April 3, College junior David Siegel had the following to say in a LearnLink post to the SPC conference: "I know what bands are playing, and I'm not gonna tell." Why David? Then SPC Secretary Mitali Chakraborty tried to explain the secrecy in a post on March 28 by saying that SPC had only come to a verbal agreement with the band and couldn't inform the rest of the community on who will be playing until a final contract was signed.

This seems like an unacceptable excuse for me. How much of a difference will it make to the band if we know they are coming or not?

Obviously certain elite members of the SPC already know. SPC seems to be covering itself so that it does not look bad in the eyes of the students.

By not informing us whom the band is, SPC members in charge of bringing a band do not have to put up with the complaints of a few students who do not like the choice. Whatever happened to all for one and one for all?

I used to think that SPC represented the feelings of the students, but I now realize that it just represents its own feelings.

Adam Jacobs
College