The Faculty Coucil also voted yes- terday for Harvard to participateinstitutionally in the National Security EducationProgram (NSEP).

Instituted as a pilot program nationwide lastyear, the NSEP provides funds from the U.S.Department of Defense for undergraduate andgraduate students to take part in foreign-areastudies.

Although Harvard students have applied andparticipated in the program independent of theUniversity during the current academic year, withyesterday's decision students will apply for thefellowships through a University-wide procedure.

"People in area studies feel that federalsupport for education in foreign area studies isof great importance," Professor of Chinese HistoryPeter K. Bol said of the program.

But Council members expressed concern aboutinstitutional participation in a program whosesafety remains questionable.

"The fact that the program is currently housedin the defense sector is in certain countriessomething that could be held against students andscholars," said Bol, who chaired a Faculty Councilsubcommittee on the NSEP issue. "They could befalsely targeted as agents of the U.S.government."

Whether to accept government money is itselfnot the question, Skocpol said. "I think that theproblem is not should we be taking money," shesaid. "The problem is will we be misperceivedbecause of the particular source of the money."

"The problem is how people are perceived whenthey go into certain area of the World that arepolitically viable," Skocpol said. "The problem iswill they be perceived as working for thegovernment. The safety of students could be anissue."

Bol said the current interest of the Faculty ofArts and Sciences lies in trying to shift thefunding from the Department of Defense to theDepartment of Education.

"A priority of people who do area studies is tosee that this change comes about," Bol said. "Ifthe program is moved to the Department ofEducation it's much harder [for foreigngovernments] to make that argument [thatparticipants in the NSEP program act as agents ofthe U.S. government]."

Associate Professor of History and of SocialStudies John J. McCole also said faculty membershope that the program will relocate within thegovernment.

"There are many people in academia and atHarvard who feel very strongly that they wouldlike to see this shifted to the Department ofEducation rather than be defense andintelligence-related," said McCole, who served onthe Council's NSEP subcommittee.

"You'd like to see this be support forincreasing our knowledge and appreciation of theworld and other cultures rather than aninstitutionalized recruiting program for thegovernment," McCole said