The Student Programming Council has announced that alternative funk-rock band N.E.R.D. and comedian Daniel Tosh are this year’s performers for Dooley’s Week, and we applaud the choices. N.E.R.D., officially the performer for the Spring Band Party, will also double up as the headliner for Dooley’s Week this year. The band has two RIAA gold albums to its name and a reputation that includes more than just passing fame on MTV. We also applaud SPC for what is shaping up to be a successful year, during which they have secured performances by OAR, DJ RJD2 and “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan.

In past years, students and former editors here have lamented some of SPC’s choices due to their lack of prominence or relevance, but that trend began to be noticeably rectified last year, when SPC managed to book OK Go, Lupe Fiasco and Akon (though he did not end up performing due to an onstage accident before the show). This year, SPC has kept up that progress, navigating the difficult job of securing high-profile entertainers (whose schedules are usually jampacked) with a budget that, while large, isn’t exactly compatible with many big-name artists’ steep price tags.

According to SPC, combining the Spring Band Party into Dooley’s Week was necessary in order to secure such a high-profile band. This may be partly a reflection of our economic times, though SPC’s budget has not changed since it was set last spring. Be that as it may, SPC must know what it can afford, and so the change seems wise: Students will likely appreciate one event featuring a high-profile artist over two obscure acts. Still, the precedent of having two concerts in the spring is a good one, and we hope to see them return, perhaps in stabler economic times. (Last year’s lineup — Lupe Fiasco and OK Go — is a good example to follow.)

We hope the events are successful, and we hope the next members of SPC follow the examples before them.

The above staff editorial represents the majority view of the Wheel’s editorial board.