Contracts for Service.

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The statement in Friday's CRIMSON that my recent appointment as Professor of Mechanics came as "a reward for many years' service on the University teaching staff" betrays a lamentable misconception on the part of your reporter. Professorships at Harvard are not handed out as "rewards" for past services; they are contracts for services to be rendered in the future. Any intimation that a professorship is "awarded" like a service medal or an honorary degree conveys an entirely false impression of the responsibilities involved in university teaching. EDWARD V. HUNTINGTON.