Among the most pressing needs that have been identified for the University are for more classroom, office, performance and rehearsal space.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 has said that more space could be used for student groups. Outgoing Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III has voiced his own desires for a student center, though at the moment this seems unlikely.

"I am very aware of the need for space for student activities of various kinds," Lewis says.

He adds that the need for undergraduate theater space will only become more acute if the Agassiz Theater is repossessed by Radcliffe in seven years--a term agreed upon in the creation of the new Institute.

To the Front of the Line.

Though Cuno's last public statement about the project--the "Dear Neighbor" letter sent out in February--seemed tentative, a larger, more aggressive effort to get this project approved is underway.

Cuno's desire for a new museum is likely rooted in the fact that the University has no permanent exhibition of contemporary art. As other Boston museums consider expansion and Harvard's coffers overflow at the end of its Capital Campaign, now may seem like the best time to construct a major new gallery.

Cuno may have an advantage in his relatively unique position in the University hierarchy. As head of an "allied institution" (other such entities include the Harvard Forest and the new Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study), Cuno has no dean between himself and Rudenstine.

"Cuno reports to the president or the provost," says the Faculty source. "That's what Jim Cuno did and he found a receptive president."

Rudenstine is known to be an art enthusiast, and his wife, Angelica, has been called one of the world's leading art historians.

According to the Faculty source, by appealing directly to Neil Rudenstine years ago, Cuno "started before the [University approval] process existed. He sort of had tentative approval for the site before the committee existed."

For his part, Cuno denies reaping special benefits from the modified arrangement.

"While we have responsibilities of setting and meeting our own budgets in the art museums, they all have to be approved by the central administration of the University and pass the scrutiny of the president," he says. "There is nothing we do independent of the University."

Cuno's lobbying efforts have generated media attention, including write-ups in the Boston Globe--and apparently some public support--for the building, despite the fact that it has not yet been approved by Harvard.

But public support won't necessarily translate into support within Harvard.