Easy Street

Does getting paid for doing homework while watching a sporting event sound like fraud?

Well for approximately 200 Harvard undergraduates hired by the Athletic Department, it's legitimate. These students get paid to serve as monitors who check IDs and maintain order in Harvard's athletic facilities.

Nearly 40 percent of the 300 to 400 jobs in the Athletic Department--which athletes say are widely considered easier than jobs listed in the Student Employment Office (SEO)--go to varsity athletes. However, only about 20 percent of all undergraduates play on varsity or junior varsity teams.

Because the Athletic Department is one of the largest employers of students and many of the jobs it hands out do not require particular skills, it can help out many athletes by hiring them to do part-time work. Patronage is a reality in this department as it is in many other places at Harvard and in Cambridge.

At the American Repertory Theater (ART) staff members say they employ more than *** Harvard undergraduates over the course of a year in various capacities, such as working in the box office, ushering and working as security staff. The ART gives preference when hiring to students interested in the theater. Three-quarters of their student employees fall into this category.

The ART and the Athletic Department are only two of the places at Harvard where students' interests and activities can help them find part-time employment.

"Most jobs are through connections," says Sean P. O'Harrow '90, a receptionist at the SEO. "For instance, I got a job once as a research assistant in the Architecture Department as a result of an announcement made in the department." O'Harrow says that it is not unusual for departments to hand out jobs to student concentrators.

The Athletic Department sometimes hires "kids who are not on work-study and for whom a crisis in the family or unforeseen financial problems have arisen," says Don Allard '83, assistant director of athletic operations and head coach for the freshman football team.

"Since they are not on work-study, they are unlikely to get a job through the SEO because they tend to prefer work-study students. In these cases students will come to me at the recommendation of a coach," Allard says.

The sports connection extends across the river from the athletic facilities. According to one student who works as a bouncer at the Boathouse, a local bar in Cambridge, owner John Brown gives preference to Harvard athletes when hiring bouncers. Most of his employees play rugby, football, or ice hockey. Brown could not be reached for comment.

But Allard says it is not surprising that many of the 300 to 400 students he hires for the Athletic Department turn out to be athletes.

Athletes "would rather sit in an athletic building as a monitor and see their friends and watch, say, a tennis game" than work in a library or have some of the other campus jobs, Allard says. "They want to work in their own environment, where they're most comfortable," he says. He adds that an actor may be more comfortable working in a theater environment.

About 90 percent of the student employees that the Athletic Department hires are eligible for work-study, a federal program which reduces the amount that the employer has to pay in salaries, Allard says. Between 1500 and 1700 Harvard undergraduates are on work-study. Allard adds, "You'll find a large percentage of athletes are work-study."

"The kids who aren't work-study are usually special cases or have special talents," he says.

Some athletes also have special skills that make them better equipped to fill Athletic Department jobs. "There are natural ties between sports and the jobs that we have," says Allard. Some student employees are responsible for setting up for athletic contests. "For these jobs we hire a greater portion of athletes," Allard says. "They become naturals for that kind of job. For instance, there is a certain group of football players who know what needs to be done to a baseball field prior to a game."

Not only are athletes more comfortable in Athletic Department jobs than other students might be, they also have special needs, athletes say. "I think it makes sense for athletes to get the jobs that might be considered easy because they take out three or more hours a day to practice. So it helps them to have a job where they can do their homework," says a varsity athlete who asked not to be identified.

The monitor jobs "are ideal jobs," Allard says. "Many buildings are empty at various times of the year and provide an ideal place to answer phones and do homework." He adds, "The jobs we ask them to do are not exactly difficult, but they require a lot of responsibility."

"They may be easy jobs but somebody has to do them," says a varsity athlete who asked not to be identified.

Furthermore, the presence of athletes in Athletic Department jobs can be exaggerated, Allard says. He notes that only one-third of all monitors play sports. The problem is that "athletes carry a high profile," he says. "When a varsity athlete is working in the equipment room or some place else, people tend to notice. What they may miss are the 15 other workers employed who aren't a Tom Yohe [Harvard's first-string quarterback]."