Scientists See Inadequacy in Adviser Setup

Approximately 50 upperclassmen met in the Adams House Lower Common Room last night to set up the Harvard Society of Scientists, a group to discuss problems of concentration in the Natural Sciences. The organization will seek to improve the freshman advisory system and contacts between faculty and students.

One plan discussed at the meeting would provide the Board of Freshman Advisors with a number of upperclass concentrators to supplement the regular counseling program. Such student participation, it was felt, would help freshmen avoid needless errors in selecting their courses. "Who can tell a person better about a course than one who has taken it?" Hugh Blair-Smith '58, co-chairman of the Adams concentrators said.

Attempts to provide special sections in Math 1 illustrate the need for greater faculty responsiveness to student needs, the group felt. The difficult procedure of drawing up formal petitions to secure modifications in the course could have been circumvented if a central group existed to consult with Faculty, David G. Taylor '57, of the Adams group, maintained.

Advisers sometimes misinform students, Taylor continued, about basic requirements in fields other than their own. A freshman appeared before the meeting to describe how he had lost time through faulty advice.

Members of the Adams group sponsoring the meeting mentioned friends who had been advised to take Natural Science courses despite their intentions of concentrating in the area.