More Than 3500 Observe Oxfam Fast

An estimated 3500 to 4000 Harvard students skipped dinner at college dining halls last night to raise money for world hunger, as Harvard participated in Oxfam's twelfth annual fast.

Exact figures on the number of students who fasted last night will not be available until sometime today, according to the Food Services Director's office. The estimate of this year's number is based on last year's pattern.

About $1.30 will be contributed to Oxfam for each missed dinner. Because labor and utility costs are fixed, the only savings come from the decrease in food used.

Oxfam-America is a Boston-based non-profit agency which funds development projects and disaster relief in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Carribean.

Last year the fast raised over $3800, said Ellen L. Jovin '87, co-president of the Harvard Hunger Action Committee (HHAC), which sponsored the fast.

While organizers termed the event a fast, many students took meals at one of the many Square eateries.

Donna Grasso, who works at the Cafe Avventura in The Garage, said that three to four times the usual number of people were eating there last night.

Grasso said that she has known ahead of time about the fast in past years, but that "this year they hit us pretty hard. We never run out of slices, but tonight we can't keep up."

Asked whether she felt guilty about eating during the fast, Nyria Melchor '88, who had pizza at Cafe Avventura said, "I felt more hungry than guilty."

Joanner Smith, who worked behind the counter at Elsie's last night, said she served "a whole lot more people."

Dunster House resident Kenneth L. Chernof '88 spent $5.25 on two Italian Jumbos at Elsie's and said he had planned to go out to eat when he signed up for the fast. "I knew the money from my meal at the house, would go to Oxfam," he said.

Another fast is sponsored by HHAC in the spring, although proceeds from that event do not go exclusively to Oxfam, said Co-President Clair Kim '87.

Jovin said Adams, Cabot, Eliot and Lowell houses had the highest levels of participation this year.

Kim said that Eliot, which has not been traditionally one of the biggest participants, "was a big surprise this year."

"The people who tabled (at Eliot) put out an enormous effort," Kim said. "They deserve the credit."

The fast did not make things significantly easier for food service workers yesterday. "We'll just get ahead preparing food for the next day or the next couple of days," said John O'Neil, manager of the freshman Union.

"We might cut back on food a little bit," said a food service worker at Cabot House. "There's not that big a difference, but a little less than usual."

Six hundred and fifty schools participated in last night's fast, including MIT, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, Northeastern, and Brandeis.