RECRUITING, ALL-EXPENSE PAID TRIPS AND LOW-PRESSURE JOBS:

When it comes to favored status for its athletes, Harvard is no University of Washington. The Seattle university could face suspension if the NCAA can prove that school officials knew its quarterback received a $50,000 "loan" with no repayment plan.

By this standard, Harvard is squeaky clean. There are no scholarships to be abused, and one isn't likely to see alumni slipping hundred dollar bills to their favorite athletes.

Still, there are advantages to being a student-athlete here. From admissions tips to better campus jobs, the life of a student-athlete does come with some "perks" on the side.

Male varsity crew members, for example, travel with all expenses paid each June to a complex at Gail's Ferry, Conn.

During their two weeks at Red Top (the name refers to the roofs of the cabins), the rowers train for a mid-June race with Yale. Harvard pays approximately $30,000 a year to keep up the complex, Senior Associate Director of Athletics Francis J. Toland confirmed yesterday.

Red Top, which is used only by the heavyweight crew team, goes unused 50 weeks of the year.

In addition to Harvard's athletic budget, players also derive benefits from alumni contributions to various "Friends" of Harvard athletics. The Friends--an informal label for alumni who donate money earmarked for specific teams--bankroll Harvard's recruiting efforts, which bring prospective players to campus for free.

Money donated to the Friends' groups, which are not official corporations according to the state of Massachusetts, also pays for coaches travel, out-of-season trips by teams such as men's crew and special equipment for training.

Although money donated by the Friends is officially given to the University, the Department of Athletics ultimately controls how the money is spent.

"Once that money comes in, we control it," Toland says.

Steven Locker, coach of the men's varsity soccer team, says the Friends of his program have provided the team with everything from post-game receptions to a computer to video cameras, which are used to tape the games.

The Friends groups also have an important role in recruiting. Accord- ing to Ivy League regulations, the Friends'groups--not the athletic department--must fundrecruiting trips.

"They flew me up here and it was a realflattering experience," says Michael L. Hill '93,a running back for the football team and captainof the baseball team. "I got a pass for meals andwent to Boston with some of the players."

According to NCAA rules, students are allowedto accept five such recruiting trips. Coaches, whosometimes treat athletes to restaurant meals, arelimited to $20 per student.

The amount collected from Friends' groups canrange from $20,000 (women's swimming) to under$2,000 (women's tennis), according to coaches.Many coaches say that most of their Friends' moneyis used for recruiting.

Women's Swimming Coach Maura Costin Scalisesays she flies in, 10 to 15 recruits per yearbecause "that's what other top schools do."

"If we didn't fly them in, they would notconsider us interested in them," Scalise said.

Football also likely has a big recruitingbudget, but the office of Dean of the FacultyJeremy R. Knowles and athletic departmentofficials have repeatedly refused to releasebudget figures.

Senior athletic department officials, however,acknowledged yesterday that there arediscrepancies in recruiting budgets. But they saidthat these discrepancies were a result ofdifferences among the sports. While, say, a trackcoach may be able to judge the skill of a recruitfrom running times, a football or lacrosse coachhas to see a player in person to make anevaluation.

Coaches defend the recruiting trips asnecessary, saying that they help make up for thelack of athletic scholarships.

"We have to compete with schools that areoffering people a full ride," says Gordon Graham,coach of the women's tennis team. "Sometimes thereis no comparison."

Still, selling students on Harvard isnot the only hurdle coaches must jump inassembling top-notch teams. There's also theadmissions process, where athletes are expected toshine in the classroom, not just on the field.

The Admissions Office has long maintained thatathletic skill is an advantage to applicants, butonly as much as any other extracurricularinterest.

"Athletics can help, but so can social serviceor minority activities," says Dean of Admissionsand Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67. "Noone thing is viewed more important than anythingelse."

Fitzsimmons says that admissions has a liaisonsystem in which admissions officers are pairedwith coaches, but he says the exchanges betweenthe coaches and the liaisons are strictlyinformal.

"The coaches do verbally say which studentsthey want," he says. "But there is not an orderedlist."

And Fitzsimmons insists that although theinitial decision to contact a student is made bythe officers and the coaches together, finaldecisions are made strictly by the AdmissionsOffice.

"We use the broken leg test," Fitzsimmons says."If the student doesn't make the team or if hedecides not to play, there must be other thingsthe student will do extracurricularly here."

But some coaches estimate that their influenceis more than just advisory.

"They'll usually give us one person we need,although he still has to be a pretty outstandingstudent," says Ray L. Looze Jr., assistant coachof the men's swimming team.

"Nine times out of 10 he wouldn't have gottenadmitted otherwise," he added. "They will do morefor that one person than they will for theothers."

Coaches also told of ordered lists they submitto the Admissions Office, contradictingFitzsimmons' claims that there are no such orderedlists and that advice is verbal and informal.

"All the coaches have a list, and we meet withthe admissions liaisons and give them that list,"says Ronnie R. Tomassoni, coach of the men'shockey team.

Director of Athletics William J. Cleary '54-'56and Senior Associate Director of AthleticsPatricia W. Henry confirm that the lists sent tothe office of admissions are, in fact,prioritized.

"Each coach will offer a list based on athleticand academic credentials," Henry says.

Looze says he rates the recruits eitherone-plus, two or three. "A one-plus they will lookmore closely at," Looze says.

Interviews with coaches and athletic departmentofficials verified findings reported in 1990 bythe Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the Departmentof Education.

The OCR, detailing a lengthy probe into theCollege's admissions practices towardsAsian-Americans, disputed the Harvard's claim thatit emphasizes athletics on par with otherextracurriculars.

According to the report, federal investigatorsfound that "an applicant's ability and Harvard'sneed for such an athlete on its teams [reflectedin the coaches 'lists'] can be crucial if notdecisive in determining whether or not to admitthe applicant."

The 46-page report showed that recruitedathletes generally scored "significantly" lower inevery category used to judge candidates, includingteacher recommendations and SATs.

Readers' comments written on applicants'summary sheets indicate that the "tip" athletesreceive in admissions is often crucial toadmission.

"A straightforward case hanging on athleticability. Easy to do if a needed '1' [athleticrating], pretty ordinary if not," one admissionsofficer wrote.

"I fear that this may be tough without a fieldhockey push," read the notes on another folder.

The athletic "tip," it has been argued, islargely for fundraising purposes, since goodsports teams tend to correlate with high returnsin alumni donations.

"To beat Yale in football, especially for olderalumni, is a very heartwarming thing and hopefully[leads to] an unbundling of the wallet," saysErnest E. Monrad '51, a long-time fundraiser forthe University.

"The psychology is good--let's put it thatway," continues Monrad, who is also financial vicepresident of the Harvard Varsity Club.

"Will a guy give you $2 million just becauseyou beat Yale? No. But it goes as part of theambiance to make you feel warmly about Harvard,"Monrad says.

Despite indications that the athletes' "tip" islarger than that of applicants talented innon-athletic extracurriculars, coaches still saythey have little pull in the admissions process.

"The decision is not made by us," saysTomassoni. "What they consider more favorably isup to them."

Graham agreed. "We give admissions feedback onhow they would help the team. Then it's up toadmissions who gets in," he says. "There's noguarantee they get in."

Coaches also say their recruiting process costless than those of other Ivy League schools.

"We are very frugal," says Tomassoni, who flewin five recruits last year. "Other schools wouldfly people in before they take the SATs. We don'twine and dine them like other schools."

Another "perk" in the life of astudent-athletes is access to low-stress jobs inathletic facilities.

According to Gregory J. Garber, assistantdirector of athletics for operations, about 50percent of students take these jobs that "to becandid, are not that difficult."

Garber hires students to monitor athleticfacilities, operate game clocks, sweep upbasketball courts and other cushy jobs with theathletic department.

"It's not rocket science here," Garber says.

But according to athletes and officials,landing these jobs is simply a matter of being atthe right place at the right time.

The prize positions are the monitor jobs, whichinvolve checking IDs and taking phone calls atathletic buildings, like the Palmer-Dixon IndoorTennis Courts.

"This is really the perfect job," says StevenT. Flomenhoft '93, who works at Palmer-Dixon. "Ican study while I work."

Flomenhoft, the second-line center for themen's varsity ice hockey team, works nine hoursper week as a monitor. Flomenhoft says Tomassonisuggested he inquire at the department'sOperations Office about a job and gave him namesof people to contact.

While he acknowledges that athletes are hiredby his office at a higher rate than they are forother University jobs, Garber maintains that jobsare filled on a first-come, first-served basis,with no preference for athletes.

"It doesn't matter to me who works here,"Garber says. "Anybody can do these jobs. We try tomaximize the work-study people because it's muchcheaper for us, but that's about it."

Some jobs, believe it or not, are even easierthan that of a monitor.

For example, men's hockey players servesandwiches to the press during home footballgames, a tradition begun by Cleary when he coachedthe hockey team.

The job consists of about 20 minutes work andpays around $30 per game, according to SteveMartins '95, a varsity hockey player. Matthew F.Mallgrave '93, also on the hockey team, saysplayers hand out pre-prepared sandwiches as theywatch the game.

"It's not too difficult to do both," Mallgravesays.

The primary qualification for hiring isapplying for a job with the Operations Officeearly--try July. The first-come, first-servedsystem fills most of the shifts by late August,according to Garber.

But for the remaining shifts, and for openingswhich become available during the year, Garberuses a casual information network between theOperations Office and the coaches.

"To fill out a staff, we will contact coachesto find players that are needy and want part-timework," Garber says. "It's a fairly informalsystem."

The informal network leads to more athletehires, even when non-athletes may be applying forthe same job, according to Garber.

"Naturally, if a coach whose office is justdown the hall from mine or is in the building hasa needy student, I'll probably follow that upfirst," Garber says.

Garber's office is on the first floor of theDillon Field House. Several sports teams haveoffices in Dillon, including the football andmen's hockey teams.

Access to Garber's information net seems thekey to landing a job across the river.

Take Ryan MacNeill of Arlington, who worksnights as the monitor at Blodgett Pool. MacNeill,who is taking a year off from St. Michael's (aprep school near Burlington, Vt.), hands outtowels, checks IDs and watches television for mostof his shift. He earns $6.25 an hour.

MacNeill's mother is Barbara MacNeill, whoworks as a secretary in the footballoffice--directly across the hall from Garber andoperations.

"Yeah, I was looking all over, then my mothertipped me off to this job over the summer,"MacNeill says. "Once I was here, they just let mestay on."

Steven A. Engel and Joe Mathews contributedto the writing and reporting of this article.Above: NICHOLAS O. ISAACSON '94, who playsfullback for the football team, cleans Briggs Cageafter a basketball game. Below: STEVEN T.FLOMENHOFT '93, second-line center for the hockeyteam, work as a monitor at the Palmer-Dixon IndoorTennis Courts. The monitor position in athleticfacilities one of many low-stress jobs dominatedby athletes.

"They flew me up here and it was a realflattering experience," says Michael L. Hill '93,a running back for the football team and captainof the baseball team. "I got a pass for meals andwent to Boston with some of the players."

According to NCAA rules, students are allowedto accept five such recruiting trips. Coaches, whosometimes treat athletes to restaurant meals, arelimited to $20 per student.

The amount collected from Friends' groups canrange from $20,000 (women's swimming) to under$2,000 (women's tennis), according to coaches.Many coaches say that most of their Friends' moneyis used for recruiting.

Women's Swimming Coach Maura Costin Scalisesays she flies in, 10 to 15 recruits per yearbecause "that's what other top schools do."

"If we didn't fly them in, they would notconsider us interested in them," Scalise said.

Football also likely has a big recruitingbudget, but the office of Dean of the FacultyJeremy R. Knowles and athletic departmentofficials have repeatedly refused to releasebudget figures.

Senior athletic department officials, however,acknowledged yesterday that there arediscrepancies in recruiting budgets. But they saidthat these discrepancies were a result ofdifferences among the sports. While, say, a trackcoach may be able to judge the skill of a recruitfrom running times, a football or lacrosse coachhas to see a player in person to make anevaluation.

Coaches defend the recruiting trips asnecessary, saying that they help make up for thelack of athletic scholarships.

"We have to compete with schools that areoffering people a full ride," says Gordon Graham,coach of the women's tennis team. "Sometimes thereis no comparison."

Still, selling students on Harvard isnot the only hurdle coaches must jump inassembling top-notch teams. There's also theadmissions process, where athletes are expected toshine in the classroom, not just on the field.

The Admissions Office has long maintained thatathletic skill is an advantage to applicants, butonly as much as any other extracurricularinterest.

"Athletics can help, but so can social serviceor minority activities," says Dean of Admissionsand Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67. "Noone thing is viewed more important than anythingelse."

Fitzsimmons says that admissions has a liaisonsystem in which admissions officers are pairedwith coaches, but he says the exchanges betweenthe coaches and the liaisons are strictlyinformal.

"The coaches do verbally say which studentsthey want," he says. "But there is not an orderedlist."

And Fitzsimmons insists that although theinitial decision to contact a student is made bythe officers and the coaches together, finaldecisions are made strictly by the AdmissionsOffice.

"We use the broken leg test," Fitzsimmons says."If the student doesn't make the team or if hedecides not to play, there must be other thingsthe student will do extracurricularly here."

But some coaches estimate that their influenceis more than just advisory.

"They'll usually give us one person we need,although he still has to be a pretty outstandingstudent," says Ray L. Looze Jr., assistant coachof the men's swimming team.

"Nine times out of 10 he wouldn't have gottenadmitted otherwise," he added. "They will do morefor that one person than they will for theothers."

Coaches also told of ordered lists they submitto the Admissions Office, contradictingFitzsimmons' claims that there are no such orderedlists and that advice is verbal and informal.

"All the coaches have a list, and we meet withthe admissions liaisons and give them that list,"says Ronnie R. Tomassoni, coach of the men'shockey team.

Director of Athletics William J. Cleary '54-'56and Senior Associate Director of AthleticsPatricia W. Henry confirm that the lists sent tothe office of admissions are, in fact,prioritized.

"Each coach will offer a list based on athleticand academic credentials," Henry says.

Looze says he rates the recruits eitherone-plus, two or three. "A one-plus they will lookmore closely at," Looze says.

Interviews with coaches and athletic departmentofficials verified findings reported in 1990 bythe Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the Departmentof Education.

The OCR, detailing a lengthy probe into theCollege's admissions practices towardsAsian-Americans, disputed the Harvard's claim thatit emphasizes athletics on par with otherextracurriculars.

According to the report, federal investigatorsfound that "an applicant's ability and Harvard'sneed for such an athlete on its teams [reflectedin the coaches 'lists'] can be crucial if notdecisive in determining whether or not to admitthe applicant."

The 46-page report showed that recruitedathletes generally scored "significantly" lower inevery category used to judge candidates, includingteacher recommendations and SATs.

Readers' comments written on applicants'summary sheets indicate that the "tip" athletesreceive in admissions is often crucial toadmission.

"A straightforward case hanging on athleticability. Easy to do if a needed '1' [athleticrating], pretty ordinary if not," one admissionsofficer wrote.

"I fear that this may be tough without a fieldhockey push," read the notes on another folder.

The athletic "tip," it has been argued, islargely for fundraising purposes, since goodsports teams tend to correlate with high returnsin alumni donations.

"To beat Yale in football, especially for olderalumni, is a very heartwarming thing and hopefully[leads to] an unbundling of the wallet," saysErnest E. Monrad '51, a long-time fundraiser forthe University.

"The psychology is good--let's put it thatway," continues Monrad, who is also financial vicepresident of the Harvard Varsity Club.

"Will a guy give you $2 million just becauseyou beat Yale? No. But it goes as part of theambiance to make you feel warmly about Harvard,"Monrad says.

Despite indications that the athletes' "tip" islarger than that of applicants talented innon-athletic extracurriculars, coaches still saythey have little pull in the admissions process.

"The decision is not made by us," saysTomassoni. "What they consider more favorably isup to them."

Graham agreed. "We give admissions feedback onhow they would help the team. Then it's up toadmissions who gets in," he says. "There's noguarantee they get in."

Coaches also say their recruiting process costless than those of other Ivy League schools.

"We are very frugal," says Tomassoni, who flewin five recruits last year. "Other schools wouldfly people in before they take the SATs. We don'twine and dine them like other schools."

Another "perk" in the life of astudent-athletes is access to low-stress jobs inathletic facilities.

According to Gregory J. Garber, assistantdirector of athletics for operations, about 50percent of students take these jobs that "to becandid, are not that difficult."

Garber hires students to monitor athleticfacilities, operate game clocks, sweep upbasketball courts and other cushy jobs with theathletic department.

"It's not rocket science here," Garber says.

But according to athletes and officials,landing these jobs is simply a matter of being atthe right place at the right time.

The prize positions are the monitor jobs, whichinvolve checking IDs and taking phone calls atathletic buildings, like the Palmer-Dixon IndoorTennis Courts.

"This is really the perfect job," says StevenT. Flomenhoft '93, who works at Palmer-Dixon. "Ican study while I work."

Flomenhoft, the second-line center for themen's varsity ice hockey team, works nine hoursper week as a monitor. Flomenhoft says Tomassonisuggested he inquire at the department'sOperations Office about a job and gave him namesof people to contact.

While he acknowledges that athletes are hiredby his office at a higher rate than they are forother University jobs, Garber maintains that jobsare filled on a first-come, first-served basis,with no preference for athletes.

"It doesn't matter to me who works here,"Garber says. "Anybody can do these jobs. We try tomaximize the work-study people because it's muchcheaper for us, but that's about it."

Some jobs, believe it or not, are even easierthan that of a monitor.

For example, men's hockey players servesandwiches to the press during home footballgames, a tradition begun by Cleary when he coachedthe hockey team.

The job consists of about 20 minutes work andpays around $30 per game, according to SteveMartins '95, a varsity hockey player. Matthew F.Mallgrave '93, also on the hockey team, saysplayers hand out pre-prepared sandwiches as theywatch the game.

"It's not too difficult to do both," Mallgravesays.

The primary qualification for hiring isapplying for a job with the Operations Officeearly--try July. The first-come, first-servedsystem fills most of the shifts by late August,according to Garber.

But for the remaining shifts, and for openingswhich become available during the year, Garberuses a casual information network between theOperations Office and the coaches.

"To fill out a staff, we will contact coachesto find players that are needy and want part-timework," Garber says. "It's a fairly informalsystem."

The informal network leads to more athletehires, even when non-athletes may be applying forthe same job, according to Garber.

"Naturally, if a coach whose office is justdown the hall from mine or is in the building hasa needy student, I'll probably follow that upfirst," Garber says.

Garber's office is on the first floor of theDillon Field House. Several sports teams haveoffices in Dillon, including the football andmen's hockey teams.

Access to Garber's information net seems thekey to landing a job across the river.

Take Ryan MacNeill of Arlington, who worksnights as the monitor at Blodgett Pool. MacNeill,who is taking a year off from St. Michael's (aprep school near Burlington, Vt.), hands outtowels, checks IDs and watches television for mostof his shift. He earns $6.25 an hour.

MacNeill's mother is Barbara MacNeill, whoworks as a secretary in the footballoffice--directly across the hall from Garber andoperations.

"Yeah, I was looking all over, then my mothertipped me off to this job over the summer,"MacNeill says. "Once I was here, they just let mestay on."

Steven A. Engel and Joe Mathews contributedto the writing and reporting of this article.Above: NICHOLAS O. ISAACSON '94, who playsfullback for the football team, cleans Briggs Cageafter a basketball game. Below: STEVEN T.FLOMENHOFT '93, second-line center for the hockeyteam, work as a monitor at the Palmer-Dixon IndoorTennis Courts. The monitor position in athleticfacilities one of many low-stress jobs dominatedby athletes.