To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

In addition to being wrong in principle, the recent decision on the Cum Laude degree in General Studies (CLGS) will make it possible for certain unscrupulous alumni to reap a windfall profit. I myself intend to jest that by appending the once-noble phrase "Cum Laude" to my job and school applications, though it did not appear on my diploma.

Before condemning my oportunism, consider my case for a moment. At the end of my junior year I had satisfied the course requirements in my field of concentration (History), had completed all Gen Ed requirements, and had fulfilled the language requirement. I had passed Physical Training and the swimming test, and had already accumulated the 11.5 honor grades necessary for the CLGS.

It is apparent, therefore, that had I wished to take the low road to the Cum Laude degree, my senior program could have consisted on French E, F, G, and H--in which I would have needed only 3 C-minuses and a D-minus. We can fairly conclude that while obtaining the Bachelor's degree Cum Laude, I could also have caught up on three years of sleep.

However, imbued with that courageous spirit which characterized the Harvard undergraduate in the days before the recent ruling. I elected to write as Honors thesis. Alas, the topic got too big to handle; the soft green of the pool table suddenly appeared irresistable. Less than a week before the thesis was due I gave it up and quickly got back to my neglected course work. AS a result game fish though I was, 11.5 honor grades notwithstanding. I received no Cum Laudo but only the shaft. Which was, of course, exactly what I had earned.

But now we are being told that in the future, all those who quit on their thesis and even those who turn in an unacceptable thesis, will receive the CLGS if they otherwise qualify. The quick-witted will perceive that under this set-up. I need only have handed in my 300 pages of first draft to obtain the degree Cum Laude--with the added chance of having the thesis accepted. But had it been raining, and the trip to Holyoke House seemed not worth my time. I could have played pool instead, with loss of honor but not of Honors.

Thus, a policy which originally erred in inhibiting coldness is being changed so as to encourage slothfulness. A Cum thesis, a poor thesis, an not thesis at all rank equally.

All of this seems a bit topsy-turvy, and that might give us a clue to the real cause of the difficulty. It seems clear that in deciding on matters such as the one at hand, the Committee on Educational Policy is way out of its depth. The only Harvard group qualified to rule on the Cum Laude degree is, of course, the Gilbert and Sullivan society. David Monroe Miller   A.B., Cum Laude, Harvard '62