More Than 1000 Pledge to Support Fast on Thursday

Members of the Harvard Hunger Action Project (HHAP) reported yesterday they succeeded in enlisting the minimum of 1000 students required to sponsor a one-meal fast Thursday night although the final count represented a decrease from participation in previous fasts.

Harvard Food Services will pay 95 cents to TCHUBA, the American Committee for Cape Verde, for each student pledging to miss Thursday night's meal. The money will be used to establish an agricultural school in the Republic of Cape Verde, a group of islands off the coast of West Africa.

After recruiting students for the fast in the House dining halls and the Freshman Union for three consecutive nights since Tuesday, HHAP turned in 1170 names to Food Services, Elario R. Monteiro '79, chairman of the student group, said yesterday.

This is a decrease of 142, or almost 9 per cent, from the fast sponsored by Oxfam last November, and represents about one out of every five students living on campus.

Sooni R. Taraporevala '79, who monitored Lowell House, said she was disappointed with the number of students showing interest in the cause. "Many just walk away, saying, 'I need my dinner,'" she said Thursday.

One freshman said Thursday night, "I simply do not like coming into the Union and being pressured right away to sign something."

In addition to holding the fast, HHAP will show a film in Paine Hall on Thursday night on ending world starvation in 20 years, Monteiro added.