World Fast

More students have signed up to participate in this fall's Fast for a World Harvest than in previous years, organizers said yesterday.

Daniel M. Pallotta '83, co-director of the Harvard Hunger Action Committee (HHAC), said 45 to 50 per cent of Harvard undergraduates are expected to fast on November 20th.

Carina J. Campobasso '81, another organizer, said initial counts show about 2500 students have signed up in their Houses. Quincy House had the highest turnout with 54 per cent of the house residents agreeing to fast. Eliot and South also had heavy turnouts.

Pallotta said that for every student who fasts, Harvard's food service will give $1 to the committee. "The money we receive from the fast will go to Oxfam American and Africare," he added.

The committee has received $150 in pledges. Other activities surrounding the fast include a film to be shown on Thursday night and a speech by Ahmed Farah, an Oxfam field worker from Somalia. A discussion on the plight of East Africa in the Kennedy School Forum is slated for that week.

Pallotta said the two organizations receiving funds from the fast were selected because of their work in East Africa. "Each year, the HHAC targets an area in the world which needs aid, and chooses international relief organizations that work in that area," he added.

Judith Hansen, a spokesman for Oxfam America, said yesterday proceeds from similar fasts held in about 900 colleges will go to aid and development in Somalia. She added that HHAC began donating money to Oxfam America in 1974.

HHAC organizes two fasts each year. Proceeds from the fall fast go to international organizations while proceeds from the spring fast benefit local groups.