This year's Undergraduate Council is tightening its belt in almost every area. Due to budget shortages, the council only gives student groups an average of half the money they request in grants each year, and the council has even turned to outside companies to help fund this year's Springfest.

But one expenditure the council has been unwilling to cut thus far is the approximately $1,000 each year it spends to send a handful of council members to Ivy Council conferences at other Ivy League campuses.

That $1,000, some have said, could mean four additional grants to student groups.

And while some council members say the Ivy Council conferences promote communication between the participating schools, few can point to tangible benefits for Harvard.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

Twice a year, each of the eight Ivy League colleges sends student government members to Ivy Council meetings, where the students discuss campus issues, share ideas for effective student government, listen to speakers and go to parties.

The price tag on the trips to planning meetings in New York City, leadership meetings at Yale and the conferences themselves is at least $1,000, according to Sterling P.A. Darling '01, the Undergraduate Council's treasurer.

Last semester's conference included breakout sessions on social life, student group funding, ethnic studies, financial aid, health services and other topics.