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Driskell's Concert Plans Attacked

Lingering tensions from last January's impeachment debacle boiled over last night in the Undergraduate Council meeting, as members debated a bill that would form a task force to plan campus-wide concerts.

President Fentrice D. Driskell '01 and Vice-President John A. Burton'01 were verbally assailed during the two-hour debate over Driskell's plans for the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC).

Although it ultimately passed the bill, the council attacked Driskell for improperly docketing the bill and moving ahead without the backing of other members of the council.

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The bill created HCC and also allocated $5,000 toward the first concert--a joint Valentine's Day concert by The Roots and The Black-Eyed Peas. The council's money would help cover part of the $36,500 cost of the event. The remaining money would come from graduate student groups at Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School, along with funds from the University, ticket sales and private donors.

Because Driskell co-sponsored the bill, she ceded the chair to Burton who throughout his tenure has faced opposition from other council members. Last spring, the council held up a meeting by half-an-hour overruling Burton's attendance taking.

Last night's trouble began when council treasurer Justin A. Barkley '02 introduced an amendment that would create HCC and then make it draw up a structure, purpose and organization before the council committed to additional funding.

"It's perfectly within our prerogative to ask for that," Barkley explained.

"To allocate money to a committee that doesn't exist would be irresponsible," member Jeffrey A. Letalien '01 added.

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