Students Snap Up Odd Jobs In Search for Xmas Money

The seasonal rush for part-time jobs to augment. Christmas shopping funds was or in full force yesterday at the Student Employment Office, 29 Weld Hall; students were snapping up everything from plucking ducks to playing Santa Claus.

John W. Holt, Ed.M. '45, director of Student Employment, termed the duck plucking detail one of the strangest of the many requests for student workers which come into his office around the holidays.

Santas

Another dozen undergraduates are collecting $1 an hour around Greater Boston by playing Santa Claus in various department stores. Before donning their fur trimmed suits and white boards, the Santas must attend a two-day school to learn the traditional belly-shaking laugh. Applicants need not be fat, according to Holt, but a genuine liking for children is required.

The number of requests for part-time salespeople in department stores in down from last year, Holt said.

Department stores don't have as many positions open this year as they usually do during the Christmas rush, Holt added, because shoppers are not doing as much buying as they usually do. Another disadvantage for the student is that the Christmas recess doesn't begin until Wednesday.

"We can offer an employer a student's services for only two days before Christmas, because one day is usually required for breaking in. Students at schools which let out at the beginning of the week are getting the jump on these jobs," Holt explained.

Wide-Awake Student

Among the more bizarre requests which have been received in recent weeks was one from Massachusetts General Hospital. The doctors were in search of a student who would submit to a series of tests after being kept awake for 48 straight hours. The obliging guinea pig pocketed $20 for his sleepless nights. Another freshman allowed his intestinal tract to be explored by means of a series of tubes through his nose and down his throat for $10.

Jobs currently open at the Employment Office include sawing wood, running errands, clearing land, chauffering, translating, and tutoring (of non-Harvard students).

Iron Shirts

The Employment Office has long prided itself on its ability to fill almost any sort of job, according to Holt. "As far back as I can remember, we have never turned down a request," he says.

He admits, however, that the office was put to a severe test earlier this week. "Someone wanted a student to iron shirts for four or five hours a week, but we couldn't find an experienced shirt-ironer in the entire College. We finally came up with an exceptionally ambitious student who was willing to learn, and at last reports he was doing fine."