One More Word

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions at the request of the writer will names be with-held.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

Little can be added to the editorial in the CRIMSON that comments on the opposing requirements for obtaining on A.B. or an S. B. at Harvard. However, it may not be superfluous to indicate that students concentrating in Modern Languages, whose deficiencies in Latin or Greek excluded them from an A.B., consider the existing arrangement an absurdity. A professor at this college once made the remark that a graduate of Harvard who holds an S. B. has been either a student of Science or one who has "small Latin and less Greek." The assertion is not only true; it can also be expanded. Whatever grades a student of Modern Languages may have, he can not compete for honors unless "he shows an elementary knowledge of either Greek or Latin, equivalent to what is required for candidacy for the A.B." The very fact that a student, who concentrates in Modern Languages, is classed as a candidate for an S. B. indicates that his Latin or Greek requirements are deficient; thus, though he may be in the first group, he can not obtain honors in his field.

A graduate of the Modern Language Department may intend to teach, but when, after his employer has learned that he has an S. B., what can he answer to the question. "In which particular field of science are you qualified to teach?" The arrangement leads to a ridiculous anomaly. The CRIMSON has suggested the remedy of "letting the field of concentration of undergraduates determine the kind of degree they are to receive." If this is not satisfactory, there are certainly other reforms that will amend the situation. J. H. Selvidge '31.