Chuck Daly Matches Wits With Nixon

Harvard is determined not to suffer from the blows of President Nixon's proposed 1974 budget cutbacks.

The University will also fight a proposed tax reform bill which would imperil 40 per cent of the funds received from private financial donations.

Charles U. Daly, vice president for Government and Community Affairs, said this week that he will pressure congressmen, Federal executives and national educational lobbies to oppose both the budget cutbacks and the tax reform bill.

Daly refrained from naming those influential officials he had in mind, but he suggested those with former Harvard ties might be useful.

Under Nixon's proposed budget, Harvard could receive from $5 to $12 million less in Federal funds than last year.

The tax reform bill is a far more "devastating threat", Daly said. The bill, currently being discussed in the House, would tax private donations, including those to universities.

Harvard will not tamper with the ceiling of Nixon's budget but will urge that cutbacks in certain areas be reduced at the expense of others.

Funds for the School of Public Health, the Center for Law and Education, medical training programs and research grants rank highest on the list of priorities for which Harvard will fight, Daly said.

Though the tax reform bill spells danger for Harvard, some administrators feel it strengthens the University's bargaining power to fight the budget cutbacks.

Congress justified cutbacks in education by citing the sizeable financial donations received by universities. With the tax reform sitting in the House, private gifts are no longer a safe alternative. Harvard's chances for defeating the cutbacks look glum. The Capital Hill winds are not blowing in academia's direction.

"Congressmen hate those elitiest private universities and the rich communist students," Daly said. Daly attributed this feeling to the increase in student activism during the past five years.

But Harvard plans to fight back, and the University's inordinate number of friends in high places might provide the leverage.