Football players may replace dates of band members on the buses used for travel to away games, Dean Watson said this week. The Faculty Committee on Athletics recently ruled that girls may not ride on the University-financed trips, even though there is space not used by band members.

The new proposal would meet the Committee's "chief objection" to the Band's present practice, that it is not appropriate for the University to pay for transportation of non-members of the University.

Watson, who is acting chairman of the Committee, said that the question of the propriety of members and their dates traveling overnight on the buses was an unimportant side issue. The University has received three complaints about the practice this fall, one from a women's college, and another from a mother who threatened to complain to the City of Cambridge and the Boston press if the University did not end the practice.

The Committee feels strongly, Watson reported, that only Harvard students should use the empty seats because the University pays for the buses. Neither he nor the Committee would object, he said, to Band members taking dates on bus trips provided that the Band paid for the buses and that an older person traveled with the group.

Watson said that first priority on any available space would probably be given to squad members and managers, since the Athletic Department currently provides transportation for only about 40 of the 65 varsity and JV players. He also suggested that needy students be allowed to use the seats.

University Liability

He explained that one reason why the Committee considered the propriety issue unimportant is that men and women generally travel together overnight on public buses. There was also, however, some concern whether or not the University could be held liable for the girls' safety.

According to Watson, the Department of Athletics learned of the Band's practice when it assumed responsibility for chartering buses this Fall in order to take advantage of the University's tax exempt status and avoid the transportation tax. In the past, the Band has chartered the buses and sent the bills to the Department.