Thomas accused Ryan of giving him a poor deal in the profit-sharing contract by charging the publishing division with too much overhead. Unfair overhead assessment is probably the most common complaint of division managers. To an extent, Thomas took matters and money into his own hands. Although he resigned in September, he drew $1800 in salary, which he had been budgeted through May 31, 1972. "If you look at it cut-and-dry. I made more than I was supposed to get," Thomas said. "But it wasn't intentional." Thomas said he is morally entitled to his salary for the eight months he is not working because he negotiated extraordinarily lucrative publishing contracts. Last semester, the adult general manager Nelson asked Thomas to return a large portion of the salary. Well placed sources say that Thomas has not and will not comply.
Thomas also charged Ryan with interfering too much in the day-to-day management of the publishing division. Ryan dismisses the accusations outright. His face turns red consistently when the subject of Thomas is broached.
In his resignation letter, Thomas said HSA interfered with his academic work. Thomas is from Kirkland House, and Arthur Smithies, master of Kirkland House, is the member of the Commission of Inquiry who suggested the Commission's investigation of HSA last Spring.
It should be added that Thomas's reaction to Ryan is atypical. Most division managers respect Ryan's capabilities and some of them even honored his request to refrain from saying anything substantial to The Crimson. Ryan started as a bartender his freshman year, and worked his way up the HSA ladder. He became the manager of the catering division, one of the agency's most profitable enterprises.
The catering division charges customers $5 per hour with a four-hour minimum. Bartenders receive $2.80 per hour base pay, with a graduated pay scale for jobs in Boston and outside the Route 128 circle. Many get as much as $3.25 per hour; all are reimbursed for subway fare or mileage. A group of 1971 summer employees asked for a base pay of $3 per hour and demanded to see precise financial data for the catering division. The latter request was only partially accommodated; the base pay rose $.40 from $2.40 per hour.
In February, only about half the students working for HSA catering were on scholarship. During Christmas and summer in 1971, HSA catering employed a few people who had absolutely no affiliation with the University. "During a very peak season, there may have been one or two employees who are not Harvard students. When I was made aware that that happened, those employees got no more jobs." Ryan said, "What we have to do is make better efforts earlier to recruit people to work over Christmas."
Ryan himself has called the catering division HSA's "biggest offender" for not hiring scholarship students. Since February HSA has steadily increased the percentage of scholarship students it employs in the catering division. Weekly reports of the number of jobs given to scholarship students are now sent to the Student Employment Office.
The--catering division also got a taste of strong competition last Spring when one of its former secretaries started Independent Student Agencies Inc. Bartenders for ISA received $3.25 per hour with no four-hour minimum. HSA charged the former secretary with taking unfair advantage of its customer files: most ISA employees had worked for HSA as well. Sometime over the summer, however, ISA folded in ignominious straits.
Even the Freshman Council jumped on the bandwagon of those investigating HSA. A freshman poll taken in March revealed wide scale dissatisfaction with HSA linen and HSA refrigerators. Of 188 students subscribing to the linen service, 63 per cent said they were dissatisfied. They complained about inconvenient hours at the depots, "the price of the linen, short sheets, and dirty linen. Of 119 freshmen renting HSA refrigerators, 74 per cent said they were dissatisfied and cited the expense, the low quality, and poor service as their main complaints.
In the midst of widespread discontent, HSA released on March 21, 1972 its first public report in five years. The report showed that in the calendar year 1971, HSA paid $125,173 in wages, of which only $76,017 went to scholarship students. The financial statement demonstrated a skewed distribution of wages. Of about 290 students earning $50 or more annually, 30 students earned more than $1000. Of these 30 students, 11 were not on scholarship. Of the 28 students earning between $500 and $1000, 14 were not on scholarship. Although some HSA divisions have been quite profitable, HSA suffered an overall net loss of $12,675 in the fiscal year ending May 31, 1971. Alumni have contributed about $50,000 over the past few years to help HSA pay its deficits. HSA's financial picture has improved and shows a slight net income.
It seems that HSA will follow two of the Commission of Inquiry's three major recommendations: submitting weekly lists to the Student Employment Office of the number of scholarship students hired and issuing substantive annual reports. But the leadership of HSA will probably remain a source of controversy. Abolishing the position of president and giving his authority to the general manager will not solve the problem. Despite some sentiment among HSA Directors last Spring that Nelson was incapable of efficiently handling the General Manager's duties, he was rehired on July 1.
If the present leadership structure remains, it will require a series of competent presidents willing to put in the requisite long hours. In the past, HSA has had a wide spectrum of presidents, from honest competent hard workers to dishonest operators taking a year-long free ride.
The new president, Arthur I. Segel '73, said he is going to spend a lot of time this year improving HSA's image. Segel is no stranger to the office of president, which he held in his senior year of high school and in his elementary school. Whether Segel spends his year making real changes or devotes his time merely to cosmetic image building will depend in part on a vigilant community that insists on reform.
(This article first appeared in The Crimson of June 15, 1972.)