The N.E.A. seems to see its central mission as that of a democratic disburser of funds.

However that may be, I was soon to discover that I was not a natural disburser of 'my card', and very few people received one.

But research cannot begin until the National Institutes of Health, the chief disburser of Federal medical research funds, has issued guidelines drawn up by the director's advisory committee.

Specifically, the definition of "disclosure date" leaves uncertain what must be disclosed after the airing of an electioneering communication when the disburser has executed contracts for electioneering communications aggregating over $10,000.

Far from being viewed as a neutral disburser of funds, the I.M.F. is often seen as a sort of fifth column - blamed for everything from high interest rates to the mayhem in Jakarta.

Our Hero distributes tickets, but excuses himself for a moment to answer the telephone; as he speaks, a small child ingests the entire roll of tickets, leaving Buddy to use the child as a disburser unit.

The regulations suggest that if a person has executed $10,000 in electioneering communications contracts, 24 hours after the first such communication is aired, the disburser must make a disclosure encompassing all of the electioneering communications under the contracts.