The extent to which some segments of the community rely on some undergraduate organizations is more evident in their absence than their presence. When because of the rigors of examination period the Band almost withdrew from the Memorial Day parade, some city officials felt slighted. Luckily, the Band played. Although no slight is involved, many Cambridge residents also notice when, for reasons akin to exams, the CRIMSON fails to appear every morning.
Another undergraduate group, although an informal one, set a precedent last November which hopefully will continue. With assistance from students and from Stephen A. Aaron '57, assistant director of the Loeb, a group of Cambridge teen-agers produced an original drama in the Loeb's experimental theatre.
"Trouble in Swanson's Alley," written by a student at Rindge Technical High School, depicted the moral dilemma of two gangs, who were committed to fighting each other but weary of battle. "What I was trying to show," author Frank "Junior" Dempsey told a reviewer, "is how teen-agers are fixing their own problems up. You see, a lot of people would think that Pete--he's the one who squeals to the other gang to stop the rumble--well, a lot of people would think he's a fink. But he's only trying to help them out. So, you see, the point is there is no such thing as a fink."
Perhaps the production of "Trouble in Swanson's Alley" served somehow to show both Harvard and Cambridge students that there are fewer "finks" on each side than the other surmised.
It is not just through social work or extracurricular activities that undergraduates penetrate the Cambridge community, however. Part-time jobs bring many students into the community and, in one recent instance, lent one Harvard student a certain fame.
After changing storm windows, Nathan C. Foote '62 left a ladder leaning up against the local house where he was working. Later, the house caught fire. When, through Foote's mistake, people on the second floor were able to escape safely, the Boston Record highlighted Foote as a hero.
Married Students
It would seem that married students residing in Cambridge would have more contact with the non-Harvard community that their unmarried classmates. They are just as isolated, however.
"We live in a Harvard housing development. The only real contact we have is with other Harvard people," observed William W. Hillier '62, who lives with his wife in an apartment in Shaler Lane. Even away from the Square, the same barrier exists, which, for example, separates Dunster House from the neighborhood right at its back door.
To insist that everyone take an interest in the Cambridge community would be as foolish as it would be unrealistic. The usual argument for the presence of the undergraduate at Harvard is that he is here to study.
It is more to the point, however, to argue that certain organizations and students, inclined by their nature to social and community work, take a more active part in Cambridge. This is not to propose more Phillips Brooks Houses, necesarily. Rather, groups like the undergraduate religious and political clubs, some of which are quite active, might focus more of their activities on the community.
The impetus behind such work should not be simply for better University-city relations. This is incidental. Rather, in a community with so many challenges for urban and social renewal, the interested undergraduate might learn a few simple facts of life that he would not otherwise get.