The decision to allow the Band to lead its famous run tonight is a disappointment and leaves us wondering why the University hasn't been more firm in the face of embarrassing, shameful and otherwise appalling behavior.

Sure, Stanford's laid back atmosphere played a mark in bringing many of us West, away from stodgy, stuffy and staid Ivies. But, that said, the Stanford community is generally an upstanding bunch. And we pride ourselves on dignity, responsibility and respect for institutions.

Unfortunately, as a representative of the University, the Band is a gross aberration. For decades, the behavior of some of its members has been consistently shameful. Allowing the Band to continue its behavior on the basis of "tradition" would be like allowing a bully to beat you up because he does it every September.

It is rightly time to reign in this student-run group known for its drunken escapades, its open hostility to orderliness and its blatant disregard for tenets of the Fundamental Standard. This isn't a time for provisional status or a slap on the wrist or even double secret probation. They had their chance. They did not lead. The University must, and the message must be clear. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

We are a tolerant campus, but we won't tolerate the Band's renegade and wanton abrasion. It sets a worrisome precedent that students can break the law and get away with it simply because of the cushy Stanford Bubble.

They have made us a laughing stock around the country and undermined our moral authority in other areas. In places across the heartland of America, like Utah and Indiana, people think of Stanford students as sacrilegious and profane because of the Band's wild antics.

Band members have acted more like ravenous children than bona fide adults. They get a new Band Shak, and they destroy the old one. The Tree gets a second chance, but then she gets drunk enough to be kicked off the Band. The next mascot defies security officials at Berkeley and the NCAA had to get involved.

It's time for a change.