It is responsible for resolving disputes between the national government and local authorities regarding grants (or denied grants) of national government authority to local governments.

Through his efforts in the 1960s, the foundation denied grants to segregated universities, leading to the admission of the first black students at several major universities in the United States.

The last is the approach chosen by Representative Hyde for denying Medicaid funds for abortions and by Senator Helms for denying grants to politically incorrect art.

Each of the four who were denied grants is a performance artist whose act includes strong sexual content and each had received grants in the past.

But it still will deny grants to to stations where religious broadcasting is "the essential thrust of the grant's purpose."

(Ms. Finley is one of four performance artists who were denied grants by the National Arts Endowment last year and have filed suit against the agency.)

"We don't see this in any way clearing up the problem that the four performers were denied grants on improper political grounds."

SVT has the right to deny grants to race, if the content is considered offensive or violates the regular contest rules.

Like the other three performance artists who were denied grants recently by the National Endowment for the Arts, Ms. Finley uses strong sexual images.

Ms. Finley was among four theater artists who were recently denied grants from the National Endowment for the Arts because their work might be considered obscene or sexually explicit.