LETTER: Singing Boycott

To the Editor: I just want to make this clear to the general student body. 1) Every undergraduate student pays a general fee which goes directly to SAC to pay for student activities, including complete funding for on-campus a cappella shows. 2) Every student who wants to see these shows that they already paid for must now pay an additional $5 to see them. The excess revenue that these groups make goes toward travel and recording albums. 3) If Penn students would like a copy of these albums, they must then pay again -- an additional $10 - $15. In essence we are creating a profit machine out of a cappella groups, who last year made between $3,000 and $10,000 in profit from their shows. Additionally, many a cappella groups are arguing that the $2 rule was something thrown on them recently. In fact, during a SAC meeting last spring, the entire SAC body approved this year's budget, which included the $2 mandate. Every a cappella group knew about this mandate -- it was written on their budget recommendations. Yet, none of them spoke out at the SAC meeting. When the final budget allocations were passed, including this mandate, no one voted against them. The decision of the a cappella groups to call for a vote on the change right before their fall concerts only highlights their profiteering. Penn students should go to the upcoming a cappella concerts, and use their bursar bills as tickets. After all, they've already paid for the show. Boycott any a cappella show that charges more than $2! STPEHEN GOLDEN Engineering '93 Alternate SAC Representative University Television