STUDENTS IN THE HALL

As of last week, four graduate students patrol the rear exit of Annenberg Hall, the first year dining hall. The Crimson reported that the new squad "direct[s] students to enter through the front and ask[s] visitors to return when the Hall is open for public viewing."

Does anyone else see a problem with employing for the combined cost of $34.60 per hour security guards to protect the precious first years from God-forbid associating with non-Harvard blood?

Luke C. Plazer '00 was quoted as saying, "I'm a student at a college, not an animal at a zoo." My, my, Luke--I pity you and your brethren. Not for feeling like animals in a cage, but for being snot-nosed elitists.

The solution to this "problem" is to put up a nice sign that says "tourists please return at 2:30," not create the atmosphere of a police state by hiring four guards to patrol an entrance.

The Crimson has also reported that part of the problem was the inability of Harvard Dining Services (HDS) workers to distinguish administrators and faculty from tourists. This, of course, angered some administrators. Why will graduate students be better at eyeing tourists than HDS workers who see them every day, if they do not know the professors? A sign would take care of any ambiguity and if, Heaven help us, a tourist snuck in, we would all survive.

The administration's new policy is ill-conceived, demeaning to everyone involved including HDS workers and is the result of the singularity of Harvard breeding contemptible snobbery.