Bock Turns Down Hygiene Proposals

The Hygiene Department Saturday turned thumbs down on every major recommendation of the University-wide Committee on Hygiene.

Dr. Arlie V. Bock, chairman of the Department, released a three-page answer to the committee's two-week old report, in which he vetoed the committee's major request that certain extra fees be abolished. The rebuttal states that fees for out-of-hours services must be kept as protection to the department. Their removal, Dr. Book argues, would encourage students to visit the department at odd hours.

On a few points where the University committee had supported the existing set-up, the department's reply agreed with the report.

Dr. Bock's answer seconded the committee's idea that an effort should be made for students to see the same doctor each time they come to the cinic.

Where the committee criticized use of outside specialists at extra cost to the student, Dr. Bock replied that the report exaggerated, pointing out that some specialized service is necessary, and that the staff is trying to cut down the number of times that students are sent to private physicians.

Med School Specialists

The specialists at the Medical School, Dr. Bock's statement continues, work for the University part-time only, and have private practices of their own. "We could not ask (them) to give time to this department without salary payments," he declares, "and this could not be done unless fees were charged for their services."

To the committee suggestion that students who visit private doctors regularly be excused from all medical charges, the department's reply states:

"The successful operation of the whole system of medical care . . . is dependent upon the size of the participating clientele . . . The benefits inherent in the system are apt to be fairly uniformly spread from year to year."

Comparison

Comparison with health departments in other universities, such as Chicago and Pennsylvania "is not reasonable, because Harvard does not possess a University hospital," the reply states. The student committee had mentioned these universities where, they said, "the charge per year . . . is substantially less than it is at Harvard."