Harvard to Participate in GM Contest

Two Harvard teams will compete this year for thousands of dollars in a competition sponsored by General Motors (GM) On "Business and Government: What are thr Rights and Responsibilities of Each?"

Designed to encourage creative student thought about business in America, the competition will include political science and economics students from 14 U.S. colleges and universities.

One Harvard team, consisting of undergraduates and coordinated by Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, will compete for a top prize of $7,000. Kennedy school students will form the second team, which will vie for $10,000 in the competition. Richard G. Darman, lecturer in Public Policy and Management, will supervise the Kennedy School group.

Each squad will make an oral presentation and submit a written treatise on the topic. The presentations, which will be judged separately, will assess the attitudes of business and government towards each other and explore possible changes in the rights and responsibilities of each. Also included will be an evaluation of the effectiveness of business and government in fulfilling their responsibilities and specific recommendations for promoting better relations between the two sectors.

A panel of representatives from business, education, and government will evaluate the oral presentations in April. In May, team representatives will go to Detroit to submit the written portion of ideas before senior GM management officials. There they will compete for awards totaling $19,500 for undergraduates and $17,000 for graduate programs.

Epps said yesterday that he has asked the Association of Business and Economics Students to represent Harvard but the organization has yet to reply. He added that he will not begin organizing the team until exams are over, but will form one by Feb. 15.