MATEP

When President Carter signed the windfall profits tax bill into law this week, Harvard's recent hopes for federal government help with the steadily increasing costs of its Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP) went down the drain.

The University had lobbied since January for an amendment to the bill that would have allowed the builders to issue tax-exempt bonds to ease some of the burden of MATEP's $150 million price tag.

Community protests have halted construction until the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Quality Engineering rules whether the plant will emit dangerous levels of chemicals or carcinogens.

Robin Schmidt, vice president for government and community affairs, said yesterday the amendment would save money for patients at the affiliated hospitals. "You're basically saving the pass-along costs," he said.

Sen. John C. Culver '54 (D-Iowa), Chuck Daly, a former vice president, and Joseph P. Califano '53, joined House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) in lobbying for Harvard's interests. But the lobbying effort found the bill already in conference committee, making it more difficult to add any new provisions.