Towing

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Once upon a time, I imagined that anyone with a Harvard degree could be trusted, at least with things like petty cash. Then I misplaced $400 with a member of '70.

Last night, I saw Spenser on ABC in a dramatic confrontation with a heavy from Harvard in Boston's twilight zone. The guy was ugly and criminal. Do we have a trend?

Last week, I was assaulted on Winthrop Street in Harvard Square by Cambridge's toughest thug (by reputation): John Harvard himself. This incident left me minus my wallet and feeling vengeful. The story thus far: Friday night I parked at 67 Winthrop Street. Approaching the open spot I spied No Parking signs, but in the half-block between an alley and Kennedy Street, I inspected the posts carefully, and the coast looked clear. No signs, right or left, (This might have made me pause, I admit.) Fifteen minutes later my car was gone. The Cambridge police offered the (wrong) number of a towing outfit who gave me the right number, who indeed had the car, at Fresh Pond, for $50. Reinspection of the site of the crime yielded damning evidence: There are warning signs on the abutting building, but none on the road or sidewalk, and none whatsoever posted perpendicular to the driver's point of view.

Well! Next I approached two Cambridge officers. "Know who owns Winthrop Street?" "You been towed?" "Yes." "Harvard!" Well, well!! I grabbed a cab to Fresh Pond Shopping Center ($5) and told the driver to head out back, as per instructions. "You been towed?" he asked. "Yep. You a regular on this route?" "Oh, I've been here before, heh-heh. They do a lot of towing, especially on weekend nights, when out-of-towners come to the Square." Phil's Tows claimed not to know who authorized the job and overcharged me too, according to documents on file with the Department of Public Utilities, but that's another story. While there I gazed sadly on the spectacular scandalsheet: The towing log. Within two hours there had been three extortions committed by John Harvard and his accomplice at 67 Winthrop Street, and 90 percent of Phil's pickups occurred on that very road. At fifty bucks per whack, some one or ones are getting rich mighty quick.

When I attempted Monday to find out who at Harvard oversees this tidy little piece of real estate, I was given two different parties at the Real Estate Office and two more at Facilities Maintenance, without satisfaction. A call to Casa Mexico, the restaurant at 75 Winthrop that had been my intended destination, confirmed university ownership, however. I hereby irrevocably demand of Harvard University, disinvestiture from the corrupt Winthrop Street operation, refund of monies lost by the complaintant, and public apology in the form of visible signs erected where undevious-minded, innocent out-of-towners can see them. Cliff Johnson '63