Monro Cites Lack of HSA Ideas

Dean Monro has expressed disappointment that fewer students than he expected have come up with new business ventures during the Harvard Student Agencies' three years of operation.

A member of the HSA Board of Directors, Monro said that he had hoped for about 30-40 new money-making schemes a year for the HSA, a clearing house that provides facilities and capital for new ventures. A Director of the Office of Financial Aids in the spring of 1958, Monro was a prime mover in creating the HSA amid complaints that it would kill independent initiative and compete with Harvard Square merchants or existing undergrduate organizations.

He attributed this lack of bright ideas to the image of the HSA as a highly organized business in the community. "This may scare away those who use their heads and come up with new ideas," Monro stated.

Students have not at all exploited possibilities for business outside of Cambridge, like mail order firms, Monro said.

"The bulk operation has been very good," the dean stated, "but like any business corporation it has its problems--perhaps more than most. We expected the operation to be tough."

When asked whether all participants received a fair share of the profits in accordance with their efforts, Monro replied, "Any organization has its human fallings in that respect."

With the HSA, it has become easier, not more difficult, to initiate a business project at the College, Monro maintained. He cited the financial backing that the HSA can offer through capital provided by its "bread-and-butter agencies"--the Gordon Linen Service contract, the newspaper subscription agency, the Stadium concession, and the charter flights to Europe.

Although fegretting the HSA's "big business image," Monro welcomed the "policing" of the HSA by the Student Council and other College pressure groups. He once again opposed a perennial request: that the Student Council be allowed to seat a member on the Agencies' Board of Directors