Even though legislation to increase the term bill will go before the council on Sunday, Lewis says he is not aware of any plans for matching funds from the college, and wouldn't support it anyway.

Stephen N. Smith '02, a council representative from Adams House, says he thinks it's a mistake to expect students to foot the additional costs of student groups on campus without the College kicking in funds in turn.

The College, he says, benefits immensely from an active and eclectic collection of student activities. The college, he says, entices prospective students with the promise of these groups and organizations, and it's only fair that the college pay its share to support them.

"Tuition has increased dramatically, but that increase is not going to student activities or student space," Smith says.

Lewis disagrees, citing Harvard's Student Activities Fund, the Office for the Arts, the Harvard Foundation, and the President's Public Service Fund as examples of administrative funding for student groups.

Additionally, Lewis says, if the council were given money by the College, Harvard would want some say in how that money was spent.

"Funds dispensed by the [council] are controlled entirely by students. If someone insisted on matching funds, we might insist on matching authority!" Lewis wrote in an e-mail message.