New band Web page plays classic U. songs

Students who cannot wait for tomorrow's football game can catch half the fun over the Internet today. The Penn Band has unveiled its World Wide Web home page just in time for fans to enjoy its sights and sounds before they traipse out onto Franklin Field during halftime. Developed over the summer, the Penn Band's home page marks the latest University performing group to grace the Web. And the band's page includes more than the typical membership list and group description. From "The Red and Blue" to "Hail Pennsylvania," the University's alma mater, anyone who accesses the home page can hear selections from the band's latest compact disc, "Here's a Toast to Dear Old Penn." "We just felt that for people who didn't know the Penn Band, it would be nice to hear the sounds of the Penn Band -- little soundbites of the songs we play," said Engineering junior and Penn Band member Ray Braithwood. Braithwood created and developed the home page along with Penn Band members Matthew Dunn, an Engineering sophomore, and John Parker, a College sophomore. Braithwood, Dunn and Parker started working on the project after seeing the home pages of other Ivy League bands last spring. "Everyone in the band thought it was a neat idea so a bunch of us got together to start writing it," Braithwood said. Braithwood stressed, however, that the page is still "under construction." He said he hopes to eventually add pictures, more songs and scripts from past and present halftime shows. The Web page "helps in publicity throughout the country or just in the school," said Penn Band President Jason Pollack, a College senior. Pollack, who noted that he considers himself "one of the far most computer illiterate people on the planet," said he has not yet seen the band's home page. But he added that he hopes the home page will inform band alumni, parents and others who are loyal fans. "I don't appreciate the Internet for what it's worth but everybody else seems to enjoy it," Pollack said. Braithwood said he plans to scan pictures of the band onto the page in the near future.