Gov't Won't Be Asked To Help Science Center

The University will try to avoid the use of government funds in constructing the new undergraduate science center, Arthur D. Trottenberg '48, assistant dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for resources and planning, said this week.

Harvard is "not cheerful about government support," Trottenberg explained, because of the limits it might place upon use of the science center. "The government is basically interested in research and graduate studies, and we intend this building to be used primarily for undergraduate instruction," he said.

Intensive planning of a fund drive to raise about $11 million still needed for construction of the center began this week, according to James R. Reynolds '23, assistant to the President for development. Trottenberg and Reynolds will meet today to plan organizational aspects of the drive.

The science center, which will probably be built at the corner of Kirkland and Oxford Streets, is expected to cost approximately $12 million. The Faculty appropriated $1 million to start the project at its meeting last month.

Possible sources of federal funds are the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. But the University is apparently reluctant to apply to them for funds until private sources have been exhausted.

Reynolds said that in drawing up a list of committee chairmen and "good prospects" for the drive, the University will look toward alumni leaders who are specifically "interested in the College and its problems." This will include "individuals, corporations, and foundations."

Except for allocation of the science center's 250,000 square feet of space among the Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Geology, Natural Sciences, Statistics, Biology, and Astronomy Departments, plans for the building have not progressed very far. The Corporation has yet to choose an architect and set a date for the start of construction.