I WAS A COG IN THE HARVARD MACHINE

I was one of the ten thousand cogs in the Harvard machine, that highly efficient educational mill located in the industrial city of Cambridge, Mass.

The Harvard process of learning specializes in a close relationship between faculty and students--they say, Classes are small, like Sociology 1a, a sparse four hundred and fifty eager minds in that one. And each one trying to cram into his notebook the words of an eminent lecturer on the state, separated from then by an elevation of several feet so that he may appear to be apart from the students, mentally as well as physically.

The course is represented in the form of several books which must be read by the end of January, at which time each student may write a three-hour essay examination upon with his entire grade will rest.

But Harvard prides itself on being a school of individualists. A look at the student body will bear this out. The ideal is the student who goes his own searching way without any restrictive group relationships like fraternities, class loyalties--or friends.

If you journey to Harvard this Saturday, try the Colgate hello tradition in the Harvard Yard. If you get a return hello he doesn't go to Harvard. The Harvard Yard, in case you can't find it, is that patch of grass--jokingly called a campus--which is surrounded by buildings built before the Civil War and looking as though most of the war was fought in them.

Social life?--Oh yes, Harvard has that:-- Concerts and lectures aplenty. Surrounded as he is by girls' schools, the Harvard man--and I use the term loosely--is less likely to get a date than is the Colgate man who views the 120 miles between here and Skidmore as commuter's distance. Student social life centers apart from the institution--going into Boston for a "big night."

At Saturday's game, if the stands are filled--which I doubt--the majority of spectators will have little to do with Harvard. They'll be either Colgate men and their dates or Bostonians.

I'm sometimes asked to sum up my impressions of that venerable seat of learning so I've codified it for this week's MAROON.

Favorite place--library; favorite joke--the Harvard football team; favorite pastime--philosophical discussions; favorite gripe--colleges with spirit.

By the way, along with this abbreviated poll goes the writer's prediction of a Red Raider victory Saturday. --from The Colgate Maroon, Oct. 7, 1953