Friday, November 13, 1998
Letters
Alumni band integral to UCLA football tradition
In her Nov. 5 article "Good Fans Die Hard," Pauline Vu neglected
to mention one of the most entertaining aspects of the pregame
tailgate parties at the Rose Bowl: the UCLA Alumni Band. The Alumni
Band plays a free two-hour concert near the Food Zone in Lot H
prior to every UCLA game at the Rose Bowl.
The concerts begin three hours before each game and have become
a major part of the tailgating tradition for UCLA fans. (The Alumni
Band is in its 23rd year of performing, dating back to the days
when home games were played at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum!)
Many of the tailgaters mentioned by Vu in her article arrive
early specifically to be able to set up their parties near the area
where the Alumni Band performs.
The Alumni Band, composed of former UCLA Band members from all
generations, plays an entertaining mix of popular songs, big band
standards, marches and, of course, UCLA fight songs from all eras.
The Varsity Spirit Squad also performs with the Alumni Band
beginning one and a half hours before each game.
It’s hard to imagine how Vu missed out on such a long standing
and enjoyable part of the pregame tailgate tradition!
Joel Fierberg
Alumnus ’82
Music director
UCLA Alumni Band
Blood Center’s staff too small to meet obligations
The UCLA Blood Center’s recent attempt to encourage blood
donations by setting up a temporary donation point at the Wooden
Center is to be admired. Less admirable, however, is when those in
charge failed to anticipate the extra manpower that this effort
would require, thereby forcing the postponement and cancellation of
regularly scheduled donations at the main donation center, which is
exactly what happened on Monday.
If the Blood Center doesn’t have sufficient personnel to meet
all its obligations, then perhaps it should re-evaluate its
scheduling procedures so as not to waste the time and disrupt the
schedules of those who do volunteer to give blood.
The good folks at the Center would do well to leave overbooking
to the major airlines.
Ron Richards
Graduate student
Slavic linguistics
Nanking city,
not village
I applaud the Daily Bruin’s coverage and promotion of author
Iris Chang’s lecture and signing for her book "The Rape of Nanking:
The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II" (Arts and Entertainment,
Nov. 10). However, I just want to let Terry Tang know that Nanking
was not a ‘village’.
Present day Nanjing, seat of the Jiangsu provincial government
in the People’s Republic of China, is a walled city that is one of
China’s six ancient capitals. At the time of the Japanese invasion,
Nanking (as it was then known) was the seat of government of the
Nationalists, who eventually fled to Taiwan after defeat by the
Communists and declaration of the People’s Republic of China.
Ed Hui
Second-year
UCLA School of Medicine
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