No Distinction

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Turning in a thesis is a jubilant, even exhilarating, experience. As the culmination of one's academic career at Harvard, it is an occasion for celebrating and whooping and backslapping and congratulations.

Which is why it was a little disappointing to turn a thesis in to the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies March 24, 1983. Sparkling wine and broad smiles from the department secretaries greeted a largely exhausted and frazzled group of seniors bearing black blenders. But neither the Senior Tutor, Peter Jelavich, nor the Chairman, David Landes, deigned to drop by to congratulate seniors. (Indeed, only three of the department's faculty--Gary Gerstle, Cheryl Welch, and Michael Smith--stopped in on the "celebration.")

It was, actually, a classless performance on the part of a department once noted for its friendliness and good humor. It is evidence, as Weber might point out, of the increasing bureaucratization and professionalization of Social Studies. And as one senior who has spend three years in the department it was saddening and deeply disappointing.

But what was most sad was that, having watched the department change over the last three years, it was not more surprising. Charies N. Fishman '83