Harvard Explained - 2X Edition!

Why are there two security guards on duty in the front entrance of Lamont?

The barricaded front entrance to Widener Library manages to inconvenience both Widener and Lamont library-bound students. Shortly after the stately Widener steps shut down, Lamont was able to double up on guard duty, providing harried students with separate card and bag checkers.

“Person-hours have been freed up by the closing of so many Widener entrances,” explains Joe Rindfleisch, Access Services Assistant and Evening Supervisor at Lamont Library. Though Lamont has always had two guards during parts of the evening shifts, the temporary excess in personnel allowed the library to solicit extra help securing the entrance from hooligans without the proper ID.

Why are there no fast food

restaurants in Harvard Square?

“Have it your way” is a command rarely heard by Harvard students. Concerted efforts by the Harvard Square Defense Fund, the Harvard Business Association and the Cambridge City Council have kept fast-food chains from taking up residence in the Square. Although Article 5, Section 4.35 of the Cambridge City Ordinances does not specifically forbid national chains, that is in effect what it is used to do. The vast majority of fast-food businesses can’t satisfy the restrictions on size, litter and traffic enforced by the ordinance. “I think corporations sense that the Square is more for one-of-the-kind, privately-owned restaurants,” Richard Scaly of the Cambridge License Commission says. It seems Harvardians in fast food withdrawal will have to continue hopping the T to Central or Porter Squares to satisfy their Big Mac cravings.