Graduate Students to Guard Annenberg Hall

In response to complaints from students and administrators, four graduate students now patrol the rear exit of Annenberg Hall, preventing unauthorized visitors from entering during mealtime.

The graduate students, who are paid approximately $8.60 per hour, direct students to enter through the front and ask visitors to return when the Hall is open for public viewing.

Current first-years applauded the move yesterday.

"I'm a student at a college, not an animal in the zoo," said Luke C. Platzer '00. "If they're here to see the Hall, let them do it other than at mealtimes."

According to Leonard D. Condenzio, interim director of Harvard Dining Services (HDS), dining hall workers and administrators joined the students in calling for change.

"[Annenberg] was turning into a policing nightmare for the ladies who work for dining services," Condenzio said. "They were getting into awkward situations with tourists, students and administrators."

Part of the problem, according to Condenzio, was the inability of dining service workers to distinguish between visitors and college administrators, which led to complaints that various officials had been treated rudely.

Graduate students, said Condenzio, can "handle it in a more gingerly manner" because they do not have to divide their attention between maintaining the hall and providing security.

Katherine E. D'Andria, general manager of Annenberg Hall, said that the graduate students have "all turned out well."

"They're not bouncers, they're nice students!" she said. "They're all very gentle people; they're not rough at all!"

D'Andria cited feedback cards filled out by last year's first-year diners on which "a lot of students object- ed [to visitors, saying], 'We don't want our pictures taken' as the reason for employing the "dining hall monitors."

However, not all students liked the change.

"That's silly," said Gretchen N. Meek '99. "Every once in a while they'd have a couple of people, but not large groups. If somebody wants to take pictures of me eating, that's there prerogative, if they want to waste their film."

As an example of the problems unexpected guests can cause, D'Andria mentioned an incident which occurred two days ago when a large tour group found its way into Annenberg during a private luncheon.

D'Andria said that if a dining worker had not stopped the tourists, "we would have had the entire luncheon eaten!"

She stated that the monitors were not hired specifically to keep upper-class students out, and that the visitors were not thought to pose any security risk.

"I don't think [visitors] are in here to do any harm," she said. "[The visitors] are just pests. They're very nice when you tell them they can view [Annenberg] from two to four [p.m.]."

Condenzio said the idea for graduate student monitors arose out of a meeting with officials from the Freshman Dean's Office, held after the first term of Annenberg's operation last spring.

"These are private dining rooms, not public cafeterias," he said. "All the undergraduates have a right to eat in peace without tourists coming to take pictures of them.

However, not all students liked the change.

"That's silly," said Gretchen N. Meek '99. "Every once in a while they'd have a couple of people, but not large groups. If somebody wants to take pictures of me eating, that's there prerogative, if they want to waste their film."

As an example of the problems unexpected guests can cause, D'Andria mentioned an incident which occurred two days ago when a large tour group found its way into Annenberg during a private luncheon.

D'Andria said that if a dining worker had not stopped the tourists, "we would have had the entire luncheon eaten!"

She stated that the monitors were not hired specifically to keep upper-class students out, and that the visitors were not thought to pose any security risk.

"I don't think [visitors] are in here to do any harm," she said. "[The visitors] are just pests. They're very nice when you tell them they can view [Annenberg] from two to four [p.m.]."

Condenzio said the idea for graduate student monitors arose out of a meeting with officials from the Freshman Dean's Office, held after the first term of Annenberg's operation last spring.

"These are private dining rooms, not public cafeterias," he said. "All the undergraduates have a right to eat in peace without tourists coming to take pictures of them.