Siegelman and Burger say that one of their most important functions is to refer students to specific counselors at UHS and the Bureau. Burger explains that they "try to make the transition a little easier for people who want to see counselors there," adding that students feel more comfortable using the more official university services when, for example, they can go to UHS and ask to talk to a counselor who will be sensitive to their particular problem.

Many students are unaware that Room 13 often acts as a referral service, but this is only one way, according to the coordinators, that the service is misunderstood. "We spend a lot of time worrying about the Room 13 image," Burger says, adding that although the milk-and-cookies parties create one stereotype, many others feel "that we're only for serious problems and crises."

Siegelman echoes the latter problem, pointing out that some students think if you come down to Room 13 it means "you're not in control of your life."

Although the counselors say that this year's program is going very well so far, they express a desire for more people to use the service. One problem, a counselor says, is that many people feel the service is primarily for freshmen, who are making the difficult transition to college life, but the coordinators emphasize this is not the case.

Room 13's difficulties are not unique. Peer counseling services at other schools seem to have problems similar to those of Room 13. According to Thomas Bechtel, dean of student counseling at Brown, the services of Student-to-Student, Brown's version of Room 13, "aren't that heavily utilized" because of the misconception that "You've got to be pretty lonely" to use them. T. L. Hill, a junior at Brown and co-coordinator of Student-to-Student, adds that like Room 13, his program has a problem reaching upperclassmen, especially sophomores and juniors, who, unlike freshman and seniors, are not in the midst of a transition period.

One of the strengths of Brown's counseling program, its offerings for minorities, is a major weakness of peer counseling at Harvard. At Brown there is a live-in minority peer counselor in almost every dormitory and Bechtel says these students address the special needs of minority students. But at Harvard, Seigelman says, "A lot of minority students think Room 13 is not for them." For example, some members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Gay Students Association feel Room 13 counselors "can't counsel someone who's gay," he says.

Although Room 13 is not for everyone--one student says she'd be "too embarrassed" to go down to Stoughton basement and reveal her problems to a stranger--every year Room 13 has a few "regulars" who can't seem to get enough of the counseling staff. But Siegelman says the group tries to discourage students who use the service as a substitute friend. "If someone is down here for two or three hours every night we're doing more harm than good."

The coordinators and their supervisors at UHS and the Bureau stress that although most Harvard students will never bring a serious problem to Room 13, the important fact is that the service is there for those who need it. It is the only student-run counseling service that's open all night to help with the problems everyone faces. "You'd be amazed by the intellectualization of problems" among Harvard students, Burger says, adding, "We try to help them feel about it rather than think about it."