SSDP HOLDS BATTLE OF THE BANDS FUNDRAISER

Students for Sensible Drug Policy held a Battle of the Bands last night to
collect food donations and to pick performers for Hempfest in April.

Performing last night was The Prize, Oceanstate, Ready Twilight, The Ghost
of Otis, Orange Jam Conspiracy, Polyphonic Soul Machine and Kreation.

Tickets were five dollars for non-students and three dollars for students.
The money went toward raising money for SSDP related events such as Hempfest.

Also given at the door were three voting tickets, in which the audience
members placed in their three favorite band's corresponding cups on their
way out. The three bands that received the most tickets in their cup would
win the battle and get to play at Hempfest, according to Micah Daigle,
communications director for SSDP.

As the paper went tothe press, Daigle reported Kreation, the Orange Jam
Conspiracy and The Ghost of Otis won the battle. He said Ready Twilight
would also play an acoustic set at Hempfest.

Donald Pearson, executive director for Strangers Helping Strangers, was
also present last night. Strangers Helping Strangers, "a fan based food
shelter," holds food drives at concerts and festivals from Maine to
Delaware, according to Pearson. After the shows, they deliver the cans to
local shelters and food drives. They have been around for almost eight
years and this year have raised just 14,013 cans.

Pearson said there are 13 drives left in December and they are hoping to
reach 20,000.

"Someone calculated the cans and it came back to almost three cans per
hour," Pearson said. "If you think about it, we can give practically a full
meal to a family of two or three, per hour."

Pearson gave out raffle tickets to anyone who came to the concert with
canned goods. He counted the amount of cans each person brought, and the
two highest donors won tickets to see the band Strangefolk either on Dec.
29 at Harper's Ferry or on New Year's Eve at the State Theatre in Portland.
All other donors received a ticket to fill out for a chance to win a burned
concert on CD over the Internet.

"It's great because the fans get to give back as fans," Pearson said.