Increased Council Fee Is Necessary For Expanded Services to Students

I am writing to respond to your staff editorial entitled "Donations Without Representation" (March 16, 1994) in which you criticized the Undergraduate Council's proposal to raise the term bill fee from $20 to $30.

It seems as though you have conceded the funding issue to us, quoting my earlier statements regarding the fact that there has been only one increase in the past twelve years and that new increase would "barely be keeping up with inflation."

What you seem to find problematic are the issues of whether or not the council's concept of an expanded role on campus, which is what the increase is needed for, is a good idea and whether or not we use our current resources efficiently.

Regarding the latter question, you point out that the council usually has money left over at the end of the year. According to figures I Have received, the Campus Life Committee is within around three or four thousand dollars of depleting its budget, with events already approved and those we have planned Similarly, I am aware that the Student Affairs Committee has almost depleted their budget.

Whereas in years past the "rollover" has been a combination of things, most of the "roll-over" that will come from this year will come from unclaimed grants to student organizations and to house committees which we can not touch. We are in the process of reforming our grants process to increase the number of groups which pick up their money. Once that change occurs, you will likely see fewer unclaimed grants and therefore less money remaining at the end of each term.

Regarding the concept of a larger role for the council campus, if the number of grants picked up after they are allocated increases, our budget would be too constrained to increase council activity.

In comparison with other schools, even a $30 term bill fee is small. The average fee for both the Ivy League and the major Boston area school is about $75. Princeton and Northeastern are the lowest at about $35. In almost none of these cases can you get a refund, even with a letter to the Dean. Even with an increase to just $30, the council will be proportionately less funded than any of these other schools. The results, however, would be felt positively by all students.

If the council were granted this term bill increase, we would like to see two They Be Gaints (music concerts) and two David Spades (comedy concerts) a year, in addition to smaller, biweekly music shows, comedy shows and dances. We could also lower admission prices to some of these events.

We could increase the size and number of services to students, such as airport shuttles, skit trips, shuttles to athletic, CPR classes and Model Mugging classes. The Student Affairs Committee would be able to fund the Interhouse Facebooks, as well as a speaker series and IOP forums on such issues as calendar reform.

Most importantly, there would be a substantial increases in the grants we could give those student groups who really need the money. And this is just a partial listing!

Your editorial states that maybe the council "should listen to their constituents' present confidence in their abilities" in deciding issues like this. It is no wonder that some people, and I would not even say the majority, have a bad image of the council. In the press, we are constantly portrayed as the flawed council of the past. This year, the council has seen a rebirth which has manifested itself in everything from packed Yale shuttles to calendar reform, from record-usage airport shuttles to packed comedy shows, and the upcoming monumental events known as David Spade, They Might Be Giants and Yardfest.

I am a student, and I think I speak for a lot of other students when I say that this semester will be the best one on record for campus-wide events in the history of Harvard and the council.

The only hints of incompetence people have been able to point out in the council all year are the failures to bring Digable Planets and Blind Melon. First of all, I think TMBG is better than either of the above. More importantly, as the point man on this project, I expressly stated when these packages were approved by the council that the proposals were contingent upon acceptance of our monetary offers and possible dates.

It is hardly our fault that The Crimson and other campus press ran with the stories and acted as though they were certainties. I could explain the complicated music-promoting business but that would take a whole other editorial. Let it suffice to say that it was not the council that was incompetent in these cases.

What I can promise you is that we will begin work on next fall's shows, as well as the other projects I mentioned, this spring to ensure that they are as good as they can be. People expect perfection from the council, which is hard to deliver since we are only students like you.

We are, however, working our butts off to do a damn good job and this term bill increase would help to insure that students have an even more active, effective and competent Undergraduate Council than the revitalized council they have seen this year. John Mann '92-'94   Co-Chair, Campus Life Committee Undergraduate Council