The Undergraduate Council passed its annual budget and announced its new committee chairs last night at its second meeting of the year.

The budget allocates 63.75 percent of the council's $124,440 term-bill income to grants for students groups-up from 63.5 percent last year. Treasurer John A. Burton '01 praised the allocation.

"I think the best way to build community here at Harvard is through our student groups," he said.

"This [money] is in my opinion the best thing that the U.C. provides for students."

But during debate over the budget, Trevor S. Blake '00 and Nicholas J. Stone '99 sought to increase the funding for student groups even further by dipping into the 26.25 percent of term-bill income allocated for the council's committees.

The money allocated for committees is used to fund events such as Springfest. But Blake and Stone argued that planning social events is a job better left to individual student groups.

"Students don't want the U.C. to be the center of their social lives," said Blake, who was co-chair of the Campus Life Committee last year.

Stewart said if the council reduced the allocation to committees, the council might not be able to fully fund events like Springfest and the First Year Formal.

Ultimately, the grant allocation remained the same, as Blake and Stone's amendment as well as another amendment, which would have given part of the council's operations budget to student groups, also failed.

After about an hour of debate, the budget was passed by a 57-2 vote. Last night's council meeting was also the first time committee chairs addressed the council in their new capacities.

T. Christopher King '01 and Ryan E. Dorris '00, who defeated the two incumbents to become co-chairs of the Campus Life Committee, announced their plans to begin work on tailgate parties for the Harvard-Yale game and on Thanksgiving airport shuttles.

Alison F. Egan '01, who was unopposed in her bid to become chair of the Finance Committee, announced grant applications will be available to student groups beginning today and will be due this Friday.

Finally, newly elected Student Affairs Committee chair John Paul Rollert '00 said tomorrow's committee meeting will be among the most important of the year.

At the meeting, the committee will elect representatives to college committees such as the Committees on House Life, College Life and the Core.

All students, not just council representative, can run for the posts, Rollert said.