PBH Asks Council for $20K

Phillips Brooks House (PBH) has asked the Undergraduate Council for a $20,000 grant to help alleviate a serious deficit in the public service organization's finances.

If the grant is approved--and council members said the body is likely to award at least part of the requested amount--the action would mark a change in how the council determines which student groups are awarded money, council representatives said.

The change in grant-giving, which would allow the council to fund more public service activities, was made possible last spring when the council increased its annual budget to $120,000, after the Faculty doubled its term bill charge to $20. The portion of the budget alloted for grants to student groups has increased from $17,500 per semester in past years to $40,000 this term.

Of that sum, $4000 will be reserved for emergency grants through the course of the semester, and $4000 will fund a "capital expenditures fund" for groups buying major equipment like sound systems, said Council Treasurer Michael R. Kelsen '90.

That leaves $32,000 for regular grants--like the one PBH is seeking.

PBH's grant application would cover the whole year and would be given out in two equal semester installments.

"We're asking for the UC's kindness and help in a time of financial crisis," said PBH President Van L. Truong '89. "Where else can we turn?" Truong cited the fact that council leaders told faculty members last spring that, if their term bill fee were doubled, they would try to help PBH out of its fiscal bind.

To partially free PBH from dependence on yearly donations, the organization is conducting a fund drive for a PBH endowment, Truong said. However, as fund raising for the endowment drive has progressed, donations to PBH's nearly $1 million annual operations budgets have decreased, aproblem which first forced PBH into financialtrouble last spring.

To make matters worse, PBH did not receive a$32,000 grant it was counting on from a privatefoundation and must also repay a $50,000 loan tothe University, Truong said.

In the past, any sizeable grant to a publicservice group like PBH would have been unlikelybecause of a more limitted council budget and thefinance committee's strict interpretation of arule that groups receiving money provide a serviceof direct benefit to the Harvard community.

When considering the $20,000 grant, councilmembers will keep in mind that PBH, which hasabout 1000 student members, is actually anumbrella group for more than 30 differentcommittees, said Council Chairperson Kenneth E.Lee '89.

"I would recommend giving [PBH] the fullamount, particularly in light of the fact thatit's a temporary grant to tide them over untiltheir endowment kicks in," Lee said.

"However, the problem is we have limited fundsand more people are asking us for more money thisyear," Lee said.

The council must whittle down almost $109,000in grant requests from 96 applicants thissemester, said Kelsen. Last semester's $17,500 ingrants was pared down from original requeststotaling more than $43,000, he said. The largestgrants awarded by the council have traditionallybeen in the $1000 range.

Both Lee and Truong agreed that a council grantto PBH would warm relations between the twogroups.

Relations between PBH and the council have beenstrained recently. Last November, the councilplanned a house comedy night series which PBHofficers said would hurt attendance to PBH's ownfund raising comedy night.

The council's finance committee is nowconsidering all applications, including PBH's, andthe full council will dole out money at itsregular grant meeting November 13