At The Crimson, editors trying to draw subtle contrasts with the Independent, noting the extensive facilities available in their building at 14 Plympton St.

Over at the Independent, president Ellie Grossman '95 was more specific about her rival.

She began her open house by announcing that this year is the 25th anniversary of the newspaper's inception. But her remarks contained a second message.

"We were founded during the political upheaval of the '60's when people felt that the Crimson was too radical and [people were] looking for a more objective alternative," she said.

WHRB's president, Alexander Barylski '96, also didn't miss a chance to show what was bigger and better at his organization than at other campus media groups.

"We are a player in the Harvard market and in the Boston market as a whole," he said. "While The Harvard Crimson does not try to compete with the Boston Globe and the [Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra] does not try to compete with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, we are right there on the dial with everyone else."

The competition was also heavy over which group had the best facilities.

While Crimson schmoozers touted their in-house presses and hid broken phones in an out-of-sight box, WHRB emphasized the station's "huge record collections" and "brand new studios" in the basement of Pennypacker Hall. The editors of the Independent boasted about their new home in the basement of the Canaday Hall's A-entry.

At the IOP, Student Advisory Committee Vice Chair Chris Garcia '95, the master of ceremonies at the IOP introductory meeting, waved his hand around the room and said to a packed lecture hall: "This is a fun place to visit. Unlike every other campus organization, we have tons of resources."

Food

To make the recruiting process less intimidating, organizations try a lot of different tactics. But the primary one remains the same, year after year: prospective compers are fed.

"The free food is effective, definitely," said David V. Bonfili '96, head of the IOP Study Groups Committee. "Bring pizza and they will come."

It worked for the IOP, where deputy director Cathy A. McLaughlin arranged for the Institute's caterer to make 1,500 slices of pizza.

The staff of the Independent had a little more variety in its open house fare--two bottles of Coke, one of Diet Coke, a Diet Sprite, one bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, one bag of Oreos and six pizzas donated by the paper's advertiser, Dial-A-Pizza.

The Crimson entirely broke from the norm with eight boxes of slightly stale Dunkin' Donuts, although the first-years left an entire box of jellies untouched.