Rudenstine Urges Students to Lobby

In the wake of Tuesday's rally for student aid in Boston, President Neil L. Rudenstine urged students yesterday to lobby their representatives personally against the cuts.

The president said he believes that the struggle to retain federal funding for student aid appears to be turning out "as well if not better" than he had expected.

But the president called on students to set aside their placards and banners in favor of a more personal approach.

"I think rallies are useful, but in my experience, the most effective thing is for knowledgeable students who actually know the issues and facts to try to get appointments with people, to actually sit down with people from...their districts or areas," Rudenstine said.

Tuesday's rally of 700 students from Massachusetts colleges--including about 40 from Harvard--was a response to proposed cuts in federal funding for student aid. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a federal budget that would cut $10.2 billion in student aid; the U.S. Senate passed a plan that would cut $5 billion.

And the issues of government funding for higher education--through basic research and student aid--have been drawing much of Rudenstine's attention this year.

Rudenstine said that student reaction to proposed financial aid cuts today differs from responses in the early 1980s.

"Students actually did plan, very carefully, days in Washington, where they made appointments in advance and organized discussions in advance and talked to Congresspeople," Rudenstine said.

"And I think that was very effective, again because... nothing has quite the same sound to it as a Congressperson or Senator hearing from somebody in their own state about their concerns," the president added.

When asked if students do as much lobbying today as they did in the early 1980s, the president answered squarely: "No. No. No. I'm not quite sure why, but no."

Student leaders interviewed yesterday agreed with Rudenstine, but pointed to rallies as a means of raising awareness.

"Rallies are good just as a general way of focusing attention on the issue, but I agree that it's not going to be as specifically effective as [direct] lobbying," said Undergraduate Council Treasurer Edward B. Smith III '97, who attended Tuesday's rally.

In related news on the Washington front, Rudenstine said that the direct lending program, of which the University has been a pilot member, had survived Congressional attempts to abolish it. He added, however, that the program still faces an as-yet undetermined level of cuts.

"It will take more pushing and pulling," he said. "It would be nice to have direct lending go further, but one step at a time.... The particular things which were going to directly hit students have been almost entirely mitigated."

Slightly less encouraging to the University, Rudenstine said, was that Senate had not passed its bill on funding for the National Institutes of Health, which he hoped would provide more money for basic research than the version which passed the House

Student leaders interviewed yesterday agreed with Rudenstine, but pointed to rallies as a means of raising awareness.

"Rallies are good just as a general way of focusing attention on the issue, but I agree that it's not going to be as specifically effective as [direct] lobbying," said Undergraduate Council Treasurer Edward B. Smith III '97, who attended Tuesday's rally.

In related news on the Washington front, Rudenstine said that the direct lending program, of which the University has been a pilot member, had survived Congressional attempts to abolish it. He added, however, that the program still faces an as-yet undetermined level of cuts.

"It will take more pushing and pulling," he said. "It would be nice to have direct lending go further, but one step at a time.... The particular things which were going to directly hit students have been almost entirely mitigated."

Slightly less encouraging to the University, Rudenstine said, was that Senate had not passed its bill on funding for the National Institutes of Health, which he hoped would provide more money for basic research than the version which passed the House