BUDGET POLICY

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Dean Dunlop's article once again warns us of the terrible financial crisis Harvard faces while one can still joke about "bottomed tubs" or be cynical about the billion dollar endowment. It's perhaps time to indicate some lesser known facts to add to the lore of Harvard's financial status.

In fiscal year 1970, Harvard's endowment earned $50.7 million in dividends and interest from stocks and bonds, yet only $39.2 million were used for the budget. So, over $11 million dollars of what is income was reinvested and this has been going on for years as costs to students mushroom and new educational programs never begin. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences by itself has a surplus of $8.3 million yet it still must raise tuition for two deficits of less than $1 million. Harvard has a surplus fund of unspent "gifts for current use and other receipts for special purposes availed of" that totals $22.8 million.

All these consumption/savings decisions are made before department chairmen get their money and then even they are encouraged to save money out of this. Added to this is a portfolio that is saddled with oil and utility stocks and utility bonds which do not provide the capital reserves Harvard needs as government and private gifts go down; this goes on for a portfolio managed by Mr. George Bennett who is accountable for his investment management performance to the Corporation whose expert on finances is its treasurer, the same Mr. George Bennett.

It is time for students to get together and think about why they should continue to pay more for less and have no say in decisions that limit their educational experience. It is time for department chairmen and even deans to ask some hard questions about where all this needed money has gone to. It's time for teaching fellows to get together and bargain for their rights. I think that we should see the Corporation and Dean Dunlop in the role of money changers and not revealers of the Harvard Financial Gospel; their job is to honestly and fairly make available the resources of Harvard for a better educational experience and an institution more dedicated to serving the needs of social change. This is not happening now.