Council Will Send 25 Students To D.C. Financial Aid Rally

The Undergraduate Council will help send 25 Harvard undergraduates to Washington, D.C., to join about 7000 students from around the nation in a day of protest against government cuts in financial aid.

At its Sunday meeting, the Council allocated $17 for each of the 25 students who make the trip to defray the $27 round-trip bus fare.

The first 25 students who call the Council office after 1 p.m. Friday will receive seats on the bus.

Erica S. Eisenberg '86, chairman of the Council's student services subcommittee, said yesterday the Council has agreed to absorb up to $250 more in bus fares for students who cannot afford the ride. "I think that the people most affected by the cuts are those who can least afford to get down there," she explained.

Monday's agenda includes meetings with congressmen and a rally on the steps of the Capitol. It will be the third straight year such a day-long protest has taken place.

Three national student groups, including the National Coalition of Independent and Private College and University Students (COPUS), have coordinated the day's activities.

Less Obvious Cuts

Pointing to a difference between Monday's and last year's protests, George Caparelli, a sophomore at Suffolk University in Boston and a member of the COPUS executive board, noted that the student aid cuts are less obvious this year because the Reagan Administration has carefully rearranged the great structure. He added, "The proposed cuts would kill the middle class." Another new issue this year is the recent law restricting draft non-registrants from receiving federal aid and loans.

Last year 184 students from 65 different Massachusetts institutions travelled to the steps of the Capitol under the auspices of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The president of that organization, Barbara Tornow of Brandeis, yesterday explained their absence this year as the result of a shift in priorities. "We decided it was more important to fight on the state level than against federal cuts," she said.

But Caparelli, who made the trip last year, said the rally will be effective in influencing congressmen. He said, "It's important when congressmen can look out the windows and see thousands of students on the Capitol steps."