Forgotten Men

In its latest gesture to the upward spiral of living costs, the University has granted pay raises to as 10 percent to its non-academic employees. Yet Harvard officialdom seems callously unconcerned about the needs of its student workers who depend upon the pay of their term-time jobs to meet a sizeable portion of their college expenses. Wages for students employed by or through the University have remained unchanged since long before the war. Baby-sitters still receive 25 cents an hour; House librarians, 35; students working in the dining halls or on odd jobs are paid 60 cents an hour, while Widener employees are rewarded with 50 cents an hour with the proviso that their pay will be raised to 60 cents an hour after 18 consecutive months of service. Few men are willing to remain in Cambridge for the five unbroken academic terms which are necessary to reach this high income bracket.

If extant pay scales were adequate before the war they are obviously unsuited to present conditions. Despite the myth expounded by one responsible University official that student expenses are little if any higher than in previous years, tuition is the only fee that has remained unchanged. Room rents are higher, food rates are higher, the medical fee is going up, and the costs of books and clothing would have seemed fantastic a few years ago. Only the subway fare remains the same.

No single agency is responsible for the current wage rates. Widener, the Student Employment Office, and various University departments exercise control over the pay scales of the students who work for them. Despite the decentralized nature of the hiring system all the employers of student workers appear united on one principle-there is no need for wage increase. When confronted with the economic facts of life they quickly bury their heads in the sand and sputter incomprehensibly. The facts indeed speak for themselves. Student workers deserve a raise as much as do other University employees.