Epps Retires. Radcliffe's College Days End. The U.C. finds $40,000.

The past year will probably be remembered most for the administrative changes that have affected student groups in their relationships with the College, the University and each other.

The bombshell dropped on Oct. 5, when then Undergraduate Council President Beth A. Stewart '00 announced that she and Treasurer John A. Burton '01 had discovered a hidden windfall--$40,000 of students' money. It had been overlooked in a University bank account and had grown year after year.

The revelation sparked a year of debate surrounding what to do with the funds, the role of the council and student group funding in general.

A portion of the money was eventually allocated to increasing the council's grants to student groups. In addition, the council decided in March to earmark $25,000 for a cause designed to benefit student groups in the long-term.

In the largest single allocation of council funds ever, the group pledged the funds to a student center, in order to show the College how important such a building is to students. The allocation requires the University to initiate concrete plans for the center within a year.

The student center movement stems in the lack of student group meeting, office and performance space at the College. The ballooning in the number of groups in recent years has left three out of four without office space, according to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III. Others are in spaces drastically inadequate for their needs.

Epps was one administrator to fervently support the students' call for a center. But after this year Epps will take on a diminished role.

In the wake of Epps' announcement that he would retire after 26 years in University Hall, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 decided to restructure the College administration, eliminating Epps' position. Next year, students groups will turn to an associate dean of the College in charge of student activities.

One constant will be Susan T. Cooke, director of student activities, who was involved in such decisions this year as issuing regular account statements to student groups detailing their balances.

The council's treasure trove was not the only money sent towards student groups this year. A collaboration between Epps' office and the council established a new $25,000 fund for student groups that gave its first grants last fall.

In general, the new grants will fund small groups in projects where amounts under $2,000 will make a difference. Self-funding groups with legacies of buildings and alums--such as the International Relations Council, Harvard Student Agencies and The Crimson--continued to make strides through their own fundraising efforts.

The Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) is one organization that will not need the new funds. PBHA received an unexpected windfall from the will of Margaret Rey, co-creator of the children's book character Curious George. The $1.3 million gift nullified the need for PBHA's major capital campaign to begin in the fall.

But the administration shows both large and small signs of letting student groups down.

In March, when software license agreements expired with Microsoft, the College did not renew student groups' ability to use networked programs such as Word and Excel, leaving some in search of funding for the products.