In the late seventies, Harvard students loved rock and roll. They loved discos, poetry, books and operas, too.

To capitalize on students' growing interest in arts and entertainment, The Crimson launched a weekly magazine called "What is to be Done." The publication has seen many incarnations, changing in length, design and even in name, to Fifteen Minutes in 1992.

But throughout its 22-year history, the Thursday morning magazine has faithfully tracked the off-beat interests of Harvard students and has kept them in touch with the trends of pop culture, ranging from Buddhism to Mr. T.

The Genesis

The first issue of the weekly magazine came off the presses in the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 1976. James Cramer '77, president of The Crimson's 103rd executive board, conceived the idea with Seth A. Kaplan '77, who became the first magazine editor.

Cramer recalls that during the late '70s the paper had been losing money, but there was potential for "a lot of money to be made" with a magazine.

Cramer and Steven A. Balmer '77, advertising manager, recognized that students did not use The Crimson's "The Third Page," a section of the Thursday paper with limited weekend listings of plays, concerts, lectures and musical performances. Instead, students consulted the Independent or bought The Phoenix and The Real Paper for goings-on in Cambridge and Boston.

Cramer thought of the name "What is To Be Done"--a reference to a tract by Vladimir Lenin of the same title.

"I had to read it four different times for my government concentration," he says.

The title spoofed The Crimson's liberal political reputation. "I loved the irony of it--to poke fun at ourselves," he says.

Taken more literally, the title referred to the magazine's listings and reviews for entertainment in and around Harvard.

By distributing the 12-page newsprint magazine to Harvard, MIT, Lesley and Tufts students, the weekly had a large circulation. What is to Be Done quickly attracted advertisers and proved to be a lucrative asset for The Crimson. Cramer says he loved the notion that The Crimson's magazine could compete in the marketplace with local publications.

Many students may have missed Cramer's reference to Lenin, but they still enjoyed writing about cultural events for the magazine. As its editor, Kaplan planned each issue around an "anchor piece," a feature article about a musician, playwright or somebody in the arts.

"The arts were the engine that drove the magazine," he says.

Kaplan recalls strolling down to the Eliot House common room to watch Yo-Yo Ma '76 perform, and great films like The Godfather and Taxi Driver showing in the Square.