Harvard Hazards: Red Dots, Green Dots...

Registration proctor Thomas E. Glannon said he knew it was going to be a long day yesterday when someone walked up to him in Memorial Hall and asked for John Harvard's registration packet.

Glannon said he searched frantically for the packet and had no success. The student who had claimed to be the University's benefactor then laughed, and apologized for inconveniencing Glannon, the proctor said.

"I'm not registered as John Harvard," the student said, giving the name he was registered under.

Pranksters aside, Glannon said that the vast majority of the 6500 registering students were quite good natured. "Mostly people seemed to be quite patient," Glannon said. "I've been surprised at how extremely polite and aware people have been."

Dread Red Dots

But some of the approximately 1600 students who received red dots on their registration packets said they felt less polite than they appeared. Students whose envelopes bore the dreaded red spots were prohibited from registering because some portion of their term bill remained unpaid.

Instead of receiving their study cards and other material in the main hall, these students were sent to Room 201, where they tried to clear up their term bill troubles.

"I waited in line for an hour. and when I got up there they said, `Oh, you have signed a loan slip? Well then here's your blue slip. You can go,' "said Jonathan B. Bush '91. "What B.S."

"It took them an hour to find out that instead of owing money my parents had actually overpaid," LeeAnn Ebert-Einert '91 said.

The extra wait soured many students on the entire process. "By the time you get the packet, you don't even want it," Lori M. Wiviott '88 said.

Although red dots earned universal hatred, students said they have learned to like the other dots found on registration packets. Green dots saved them time, the students said, by alerting them to the fact that they could sign their loan cards in Memorial Hall and thus avoid a trek to the fifth floor of Holyoke Center.

"Green dots are a wicked good idea," said one student, who asked not to be identified.

Dots weren't the only hazard students had to navigate yesterday. As they entered and left Memorial Hall students found themselves confronted by giant, overhanging partitions with signs urging them to join--for fun and profit--various student organizations.

"Jimmy Carter and Rajiv Gandhi have written for the Harvard International Review. You can too," one sign read.

Many organizations used more than posters to recruit new members. In the alcove between the main hall and Sanders Theatre, members of student organizations accosted their fellow students and tried to convince them to give up their free time for the sake of worthy or enjoyable causes. Recruiters for Paul Simon's presidential campaign even brought a television on which they displayed a video presentation.

For the students manning the activity tables, business ranged from non-existent to frantic. When the noon lecture of Social Analysis 10, "The Principles of Economics," ended crowds of people surged into the room, and the tables were overwhelmed with activity seekers. But the rush soon subsided. When the tables were not too crowded, these volunteers had time to complain about their situation. They said they found the corridor lacking in a few necessities.

"We want a few floodlights," Donald J. Ridings '90 said.

"...and maybe a space heater or two," Clara N. Lee '89 added, before telling two students that Harvard has no systematic AIDS education program, and that they could help organize one.

The registration proctors also said they found their part of the process difficult. "The hardest part of proctoring is that the back of your neck gets really stiff," said Glannon. "I had to give someone a massage on the lower back so he could keep going, he was so stiff and sore."

In addition to complaining, many students suggested ways to improve the registration process. Several said they thought registration should not take place on the first day of classes because it can cause scheduling conflicts, especially for those who have been red-dotted.

"I'm taking two course in which attendance is mandatory, and registering [today] could have caused me to miss lunch," Jeremy B. Rudd '91 said.

"Registration should be on the day before [the first day of classes]," George Goon '91 said. "If you have a problem with red-dotting, it might tie you up all day.

This complaint may become a thing of the past, because College officials have decided to schedule next fall's registration on the Friday before classes start. (See story page 1)

But to some students, the whole process of registration seemed superfluous. "If we just pick up a packet and leave, why couldn't they mail it to us?" Christopher Chabris '88 queried.

"It seems a little primitive," said another student. "After 350 years they're still doing it this way.

But most students said they thought that registration, while it has some drawbacks, should not be lambasted. It works, they said, even if it is imperfect. "After all, you get to see people you don't see often," said Wiviott.