The second problem, that of how much a student at Harvard should spend working, is still being worked on by Monro and Taylor. Unlike some universities, Harvard has never considered working one's way through college a particularly desireable practice. The terms of National Scholarships expressly forbid their holders to have regular jobs. Harvard wants its men-to study first, and work only if absolutely necessary.

Happy Medium

Twelve to fifteen hours a week seems to be the perfect medium between letting a man slack off and allowing him to over-work. "Ten hours a week is a little light, 20 hours is too much," declares Taylor. Consequently this year the number of dining hall jobs for freshmen was doubled while the time each man worked was cut in half. "Before this year the freshmen were working 20 to 22 hours a week on these board jobs, and were having a lot of trouble with their studies," says Monro. "We halved the time each man would have to work and, at the same time, doubled the number of such jobs available."

Incoming freshmen provide one of the biggest worries for the Financial Aid Center and the Employment Office. Many men apply to Harvard with little or no idea of what financial reserves they can muster. Other men come here knowing perfectly well that unless something turns up they will be unable to pay their bills.

Each year on the average of 1500 men apply for freshman scholarships, and 270 of them get what they want. Two hundred men who apply for scholarships and don't get them come to Harvard anyway. Usually about 100 of them don't really need what they asked for, but the other 100 must get good steady jobs. It is in this respect that the priority plan is expected to prove its worth, for during the summer Taylor's office will write to the worst "need cases" and inform them about job opportunities. Theoretically no Harvard man will have to worry about term bills.

The 100 or so freshmen who discover that they don't really need much in the way of financial aid are indicative of a common type around the College Some men always turn up with terribly low estimated resources and ridiculously high estimated expenses. The result is a simply monstrous gap for the FAC to fill up. For a man like this, Monro remarks, "if he wants to spend that much it's okay, but he's not going to get it from me."

The priority system has resulted in a whole new method of Employmen Office filing cards. On these cards Taylor and his assistants put down the priority that the student should get so far as available jobs are concerned. Actual placement for a job is usually determined after Taylor interviews a man and decides on his needs and abilities. He is then turned over to Miss Fales for a job inside the University of to Mrs. Ryan for a job outside.

The "casual" jobs are awarded solely on the basis of ability of availability. They encompass such familiar pursuits as baby-sitting, handling odd-jobs around local homes, and shoveling snow. They take in such esoteric--comparatively highly paid--occupations as draftsmen, translators, and entertainers. The entertainment bureau, one of Holt's prides, has been rather curtailed under Taylor.

People who want Harvard men to come out and do some job call the Employment Office where Miss Ann McKenna tries to find students to fill the positions. Students registered in the casual job division--about 350--come in between classes to see what sort of jobs are in the offing. So for as casual jobs are concerned, the early bird usually catches the worm.

Criticism has been directed at the Office this year in that, while its more efficient operation saves time and money, the informality that used to prevail was a great inducement to coming into the office and seeing if any jobs were available. A ready supply of labor is an employment office's greatest asset. All indications are, however, that after a few more months Taylor and his staff will be sufficiently broken in to destroy the impersonal air that now lingers over the Office.

All this, however, is but a pebble on a beach compared to the crucial problem of financial aid. Of the $375,000 that was earned last year by men registered with the Office--College and Law School--$215,000 was term-time work, $160,000 summer. Undergraduates accounted for over $200,00 of this.

Budget High

The biggest single item on the Financial Aid budget last year was approximately $550,000 given out in undergraduate scholarships. Then came the $200,000 earned by College men through the Student Employment Office. (Many men who are not registered with the Office have jobs during the school year.) Lastly came $80,000 worth of loans.

Scholarship money is down, way down. Dean Bender and Director of Scholarships F. Skiddy von Stade, Jr. '38, are already considering ways of having former scholarship holders reimburse the University. Loans are limited because many students do not wish to take on long or short-term obligations. Administration officers look with eager eyes upon such schools as Princeton, where almost 40 percent of the students are regularly employed. There is a defininte possibility that employment money may some day equal the amount given out in scholarships. That is the goal for which Taylor, Munro, and Bender are striving. The success of failure of the porter plan, the kitchen help and the whole priority system will in a great part determine what the Harvard of 1960 will be like.