Dismal Weekend A-Head

Two hundred thousand crazed crew fans are arriving in Harvard Square for the Head of the Charles, and Bobby Fardin '96 is not pleased.

"This weekend is going to suck," he says. "It's like living in B.U."

Dissatisfaction with the prospects for the regatta weekend runs amok among Harvard students, many of whom are not thrilled about Cambridge's temporary population explosion.

"It sort of ruins the weekend, I think," says Joe B. Nadol '95. "Parties are banned, and there are all of these drunk high school students wandering around. It will interfere with all of my serious academic work. I don't want to deal with it this weekend."

Some students have bad memories from years past--although none seemed quite as emotionally scarring as the story related by John H. Tepedino '95.

"Sophomore year in the Square I saw a med student get knifed," Tepedino says. "He was lying there bleeding until EMS showed up. They picked him up and tried to put him on the stretcher, but they dropped him and had to try again."

The vast majority of those who are looking forward to the weekend have a particular reason. "Well, I've got a lot of friends who are rowing in it," says Eliot House Tutor Andrew W. Torrance.

The sheer physics of the weekend's influx may require a mass exodus of Harvard students to compensate. But while many say they wish they were leaving, most will stick it out. "I think it's very common not to leave town but to lie low," says Carsey Yee, resident tutor of Adams House.

Many students are making plans to do just that, hoping to avoid in any way possible the revelry in the Square. "I'm hiding in my room like I have every year," says Adam S. Doctor off '95.

"I live in Cabot, so I'll pop down when I want to, then go back to peace and quiet. Put it down under reasons to live in the Quad," says Justin C. Label '97.

Not everyone, however, seems so optimistic about their chances of ignoring the festivities.

"Head of the Charles is a giant hassle," says Annie P. Tucker '97, an Eliot resident. "It is mayhem. I have no desire to be here, but I will be. I am certain I will be awakened early on Sunday by the rioting on JFK."

Some say the bother of increased security is enough to make them skip town.

"I'm jealous of the people who are leaving," says Elizabeth B. Stein '95. "I want to get out of here. I hate it. Crew is a very pretty sport, but it's not worth turning the campus into a police state."

Indeed, many students who are staying at Harvard this weekend say they are not doing so by choice. "I wish I were leaving," says Lindsey S. Pyle '95. "The only reason I'm staying is that a friend is coming to row. I actually had to discourage another friend from coming down this weekend. I told her it would be best to come some other time."

Some disillusioned students, though, admit to having had Head of the Charles fever in the past. "I went to prep school in the area and have been in Cambridge for the Head of the Charles for the last four years. This year, I would be very excited about leaving," says Jonathan D. Rein '96. "It's just a tired weekend when the Square is flooded by 16-year-old prep school kids."

In the end, many seem to agree with the advice of Jed S. Willard '96--"Everybody should leave unless they're in crew."