17 Percent Waive Annual Council Fee

For the second year in a row, approximately 17 percent of the College's students have waived their Undergraduate Council fees, according to figures provided by the Student Billing Office.

This rate continues a trend from last year, when an unprecedented 1105 students withheld their money. Before 1990, the council received fees from approximately 90 percent of the student body.

All of the Undergraduate Council's funds are collected through these annual fees. The council typically spends its money on grants to student groups, campus events and operational costs.

This year's low payment rate will make it more difficult for the council to serve students, said Treasurer Alliric I. Willis '92.

"Student organizations are the ones who will be most affected by the waivers," Willis said. "They can't receive the money they deserve if we don't have the source of income."

Despite this income reduction, funding for student organizations may actually increase, since the portion of council dollars allocated for grants has increased from 66 to 71 percent.

The Council will "have to figure out ways to combat" the attrition in funding, said Willis. The council has no plans to increase the fee or ask the University to make up the difference, he said.

"We get no money from the University," Willis said. "Our fee is by far the smallest among Ivy League schools."

General Indifference

General indifference toward the council and a feeling of futility were reasons cited by students who chose to waive the fee.

"I don't want to throw my money into a void," said Mica Pollock '93. "They [the council] are vague enough so that I wouldn't want to pay a fee for them."

But other undergraduates said the fee is a necessary and important contribution to campus life.

Tomoharu Nishinu '93, president of both the Japan Society and Sado, called the Undergraduate Council grants "crucial" to his groups' activities and said it was "too bad" that so many people decided to withhold their money.