Lewis Hints At Term Bill Hike

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 told the Undergraduate Council Monday night that he is proceeding with plans to unilaterally raise the term bill fee that funds the council.

Students have consistently rejected similar plans in school-wide

referendums, and the council agreed last year that it would not press ahead with an increase.

"I've come to the view that the [term bill] should go up this year," Lewis said. "It seems like I'm now bolder than the U.C. on this issue."

Every year since 1983, the council has been funded the same way: an optional $20 term bill fee. But because of inflation, that money only buys 60 percent of what it did in 1983. Adjusted for inflation, the term bill fee would now be $33.50.

Although earlier this fall Lewis told The Crimson he would be loathe to ask for a term bill increase from the Faculty without student support, he now says he would be willing to move ahead.

"I am prepared to push this issue forward without explicit support from the student body and to advocate and explain it to the Committee on College Life, the Faculty Council and the Faculty," he wrote in an e-mail message.

Lewis said he plans to present the idea to the Committee on College Life--which contains deans, Faculty members and students chosen by the council--at its December meeting. If the measure passes, it would go in front of the full Faculty for approval.

By contrast, the student body might never vote to raise the term bill, Lewis explained Monday, because of students' "equivocal confidence" in the council and their unwillingness to pay more money. A student referendum to raise the term bill fee to $50 narrowly failed last December.

"There's a sentiment out there that they shouldn't have to pay more than the $30,000-plus they're already paying," he said.

The council's funding problem is already serious enough, he said, that he would be willing to take blame for the unilateral increase, although he only plans to ask for a fee of $30 to $40.

But Lewis cautioned that he will not press forward with the issue if there is "massive resentment" among the student body.

"I don't want to sit in my office and get pounded day after day," he said.

While the College has increased student group funding through University-controlled resources--like grants through the Ann Radcliffe Trust and the Office of the Arts--Lewis said he wants to see more money directly controlled by undergraduates.

"The gradual process through which we have been going, of upping other University grant funds, results in a loss of student autonomy," he wrote

. --Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.