Council Schedules Two Money Drives Next Year, Allows More Freedom in Allocation

A completely revised Charities Drive came out of the Council's final meeting of the year last night.

The new setup is based on having two drives a year aimed at roughly $5 per person, instead of the former single drive aimed at $10. This is expected to glean more money.

Other major changes include giving students the specific option, when being solicited, of rejecting the Council's 20 percent deduction from all contributions.

Also an innovation was the splitting of the Council budget, last year $10,000, into its components of charities and plain administrative expenses. The Council supported charities, which include Phillips Brooks House, Council scholarships, Displaced Persons Drive, and a contribution to the Salzburg Seminar, will now appear at the head of a list of "Charities of special interest to students."

20% for "Administration" Expenses

The 20 percent levy, if paid, will only take care of the estimated $4472 plain administrative expenses, such as secretarial and National Students Association.

Also on the Fund drive card planned by the outgoing Council last night, is a section, "Charities of national, international, and local appeal," which includes the usual public charities.

The most protracted argument of the evening raged around the question of raising the Council's purely administrative expenses. The committee, headed by William D. Weeks '49, which made the recommendations on the fund drive, suggested that a fixed charge, first suggested as $.75, should be subtracted from each donation.

Frederic D. Houghteling '50 proposed that the money be raised by the customary percentage cut method. Supporters of the fixed fee claimed that students distrusted this method and would be more inclined to cross such deductions off their card.

Houghteling replied that a percentage cut would reduce objections by students making small contributions, and that it would be easier to be sure of getting the Council budget this way.

Both sides agreed that it should be made abundantly clear to students that they were not being compelled to pay the Council toll. The final vote was 6 to 0 in favor of the Houghteling motion, after the other had been defeated 3 to 5.

Next action was to vote that direct expenses of the drive should be subtracted from the drive total proportionately by allocations, and not added to Council administrative expenses.

After the myriad other minor points involved in the drive--including the changing of its name from the "Combined Charities Drive" to the "Harvard Charities and Service Fund Drive" in order to make it more palatable to students who had objected last year to the Council getting a cut from a "charities" campaign--the Council, approved the nomination of Jerome P. Gavin '50 as chairman of the fall drive and George J. Feeney '50 as treasurer.

Gavin emphasized last night that students could allocate their money next fall, in any amount to any or all of the "student" or "national" charities, and that, unless they specified to the contrary, 20 percent of these donations would be paid into the Council administrative fund. Unallocated money will be allocated, it is expected, mainly to charities which fared badly.

At the meeting, Gavin also announced approval by a Council committee of an American Field Service offer to give a Harvard man a free trip to and from Europe and $100 out of an estimated $200 expenses.

The student, to quality, must have worked last year on the Charities Drive, which contributed to the AFS, not have done much traveling, and not be able to pay for his own trip. Applications should be in at the Council office by 5 p.m. next Tuesday.