"CUTS" AND THE VACATION.

There seems to be wide-spread feeling about the present policy of inflicting a serious penalty for "cutting" immediately before and after a vacation. The argument advanced is that it does not seem fair to apply the same restriction equally to those men who are faithful in keeping college engagements and those who "cut" consistently as much as possible. We do not advocate for a moment the system of a definite number of "cuts" which obtains in most other colleges: first, because it encourages that childish sense of obligation to use up all the "cuts" whether they are needed or not; and second, because we believe with the Dean that it is in accordance with conditions here at Harvard to give a man a certain amount of liberty in regard to attending classes and thus to foster a healthy sense of responsibility. But it seems quite logical that men not on the Dean's list who "cut" no more than two or three times a term should be allowed to leave a day or two earlier at vacation without being put on probation. There are a great many cases where excusing one such cut would allow the student a whole extra day of vacation. This scheme is worth trying, at least, and will undoubtedly prove the wisdom of putting a certain premium on strict attendance to college duties.