That's a Joke, Son

The appearance of an emaciated summer course catalogue will come as a blow to the mass of veterans returning to Harvard full of ambition and serious intentions. Despite the announcement last fall that the three-term year would be continued until the end of the "demobilization period" in order to meet the needs of returning servicemen, the schedule of courses for this summer does not begin to fill the requirements of men seeking to obtain their degree as quickly as possible.

In the field of Social Sciences, Economics is a glaring example of the paltry offering for summer students. With only three middle group courses to choose from the Ec concentrator will be hard put to map out a program. Government does little better by squeezing in four middle-group courses.

Despite their great popularity, courses in American history and literature have been all but excluded. Between them, the English and History departments offer two such courses. This paucity is indicative of these departments' overall plans for the summer, which include a meagre spread of five courses in English and six in History.

Potential engineers not in the field of electrical engineering will be left cold by perusal of the offerings of the Department of Engineering Sciences, which are limited to three physics courses applicable mainly to men concentrating in electrical engineering. Students wishing to pass off the science distribution requirement will be satisfied only if they are interested in Chemistry or Anthropology. Biology, Geology, and Geography are giving their elementary courses a three month vacation. Even more flagrant sins of omission were committed by eight departments which shut down completely.

But the greatest disappointment of the coming summer session lies in the absence of the Faculty's "big names." This is especially evident in the area of the Social Sciences, where many of the courses nominally offered have been valuable not so much for the subject matter as for the opportunity of hearing the views of outstanding authorities in the field. Administration officials boasted that they had guessed right when they practically shut down the College to all but Freshmen last summer, in order to give the Faculty a rest before the hordes returned. But that was last summer. Now everybody is tired again, and the oft-heralded Harvard education has been placed in the hands of instructors and visiting lecturers, who may be competent, but are still the second team.

Six different courses in Military Science and Tactics are open to physically qualified young citizens of the United States, who might desire a finishing polish to their military career. But the best advice than can be given to most veterans is to stay-home and read a good book.