STUDENT WAITERS IN THE HOUSES

Recent agitation for the extension of student waiting to the seven Houses raises a problem which is not now to University administrators. Of the many educational institutions which have experimented, few, if any, have proclaimed student waiting entirely satisfactory. At Harvard, the Business School service has been reasonably successful; the mixed service at the Union, where the Freshmen are given Hobson's choice, is poor. The trend in the University is away from student waiting, and there is every probability that it will eventually be abolished from the Union rather than extended to the Houses.

The principal arguments advanced against student waiting are: that it would benefit at best only five percent of the undergraduate body, while affecting the daily routine of the whole; waited upon by their fellow students, men would hesitate to complain of poor service, and to linger at the end of a meal; that between the two extremes: a government-financed institution, where low tuition attracts mediocre students, and one where every man pays full tuition himself, some line must be drawn, and that since Harvard gives more scholarships than any other institution, has a larger proportion of men not able to pay the full tuition without aid than Princeton and Yale, and maintains a student employment office, the line has been drawn where it should be; that student waiting, unsatisfactory at the Union, might not be viewed favorably in the Houses, and, since the House Plan is still in an experimental stage, to jeopardize its success would be unwise. The main objection concerns student waiting in itself. In the Harvard of the past there was a too well marked division between wealthy and needy. Today every effort is bent towards placing all members of the University on as nearly equal a footing as possible, and student waiting militates against the development of a healthy social atmosphere. Extension of it, as a long-run policy, is not wise.

But the unusual strain placed on student resources by the present depression makes the extension of student waiting as an emergency measure advisable. It is an open secret that a number of the House Masters view such a move favorably. The Student Employment Office is unable to meet the needs of undergraduates. More are enrolled with the office than ever before. While in future the Committee on Admissions and the Employment Office will cooperate to insure that for every man admitted needing work a job will be available, the present fact remains that many who were admitted in 1929 with the assurance that they could find the work needed are now unable to secure it. In addition, the inauguration of the House Plan has cut down the number of jobs available in eating places around the Square, with no adequate substitute provided. The high cost of living in the Houses further complicates the problem. A number of men have been forced to withdraw for lack of funds, while others have placed themselves under a handicap by borrowing from the University or from relatives.

In view of these unusual conditions the opening up of positions in the dining service next Fall would be a boon to the needy student. Undergraduates should be given positions in the kitchen and as bus-boys in the food tunnels. A thorough Student Council investigation has shown that 28 bus-boy positions are available, as well as six jobs in the three House kitchens. It is possible, that more positions may be opened at the Union, and probable that between one and two dozen additional waiters will be taken on at the Business School. In addition four or five student waiter jobs should be created in each House. This would establish no precedent; student waiting already exists in the University, and there is no reason to believe that the measure should not be, in name and in effect, an emergency one. Each student waiter would eat three days a week in his own House, working in another unit. With a limited number of waiters, there would be no need for a man to serve his friends or acquaintances. Intelligently organized and directed, such a service, in view of existing conditions, should meet with general undergraduate approval.