Hard Cash

When the Student Assembly requested a formal review of College governance last spring, it did so with some trepidation, fearing that the review might make it just another powerless advisory committee. But this week the Governance Review Committee indicated it is likely to suggest that the assembly be reformed into a potent central body with a $60,000 annual budget, and assembly members began to rejoice at a dream-come-true.

The festivities, however, may be premature. Before a new student government funded by a $10 term-bill additional can come into existence, the Harvard Corporation, the Faculty and a majority of the undergraduate student body will have to vote their approval.

And before these groups can vote, the student-faculty review committee has to finish its hearings and make recommendations in a report to Dean Fox this February.

The last time students were faced with approving a $10 addition to term bills as part of a plan for a rejuvenated undergraduate council, they balked-and Harvard went without a central student government for eight years until the assembly was created in 1977.

Nevertheless, Leslie A. Cornfeld '81, former chairman of the Student Assembly, is optimistic. "I think most students will decide $10 is a small price to pay for a truly effective student government," she says.

Lydia P. Jackson '82, president of the Black Students Organization, agrees. "I think the Third World Center Organization and other student organizations will enthusiastically welcome the additional support" from the new student government, which would be charged with dispersing more than half its annual budget to other student groups, she says.