"Well, she liked it..."

Enough of this crap," one growls, testing the period against the wall, "Why testing the prod against the wall, "Why haven't you done ant thing here?"

Fortunately, I usually wake up at this point, but I am still left haunted by that question, "Why don't people get in volved here?"

FTER VIOL of careful thought and a session with my Ouija board, I feel able to offer a particle explanation.

Harvard seares people out of living their application dreams.

Even the most cursory look around the shuttle bus or cafeteria will show why many people don't play sports here. An athletic injury put me out of Harvard students were put out of sports from birth. Although they would probably like to get involved, the 125 pound tackle being ground in to his seat,or the 255 pound coxswain over at the salad bar wallowing in cheese will never be in great demand on any field or river.

The Faculty of Arts and Science is also a great killer of ambition. While a pre-freshman can dream about being active in extracurricular activities, his dream will fade with his first 1000 page

reading list. Even if he goes to few practices or meeting, he will spend the whole time in misery, Knowing that 700 pages of The Role of Wheat in Medieval Latvian Politics or Warren Harding--Man or Myth are waiting for him in room.

Woe to the person who wants to be politically organizations for a student to join, many have become so polarized that often only the most radical, rabid people join them. At Harvard, even the most conservative liberal is called a Bolshevik is called a fascist. For those who seek a more neutral atmosphere in the realm of student government, just as much conflict awaits.

However, whereas the national interest groups fight over such issues as Nicaragua and the MX missile, the violence at House Committee meetings usually rages over such issues as the cost effectiveness of Styrofoam cups.

For those who dream of becoming literary titans, the terror of the comp awaits. Although many are told that "comp" is short for "Competence." Anyone who has ever comped can give you a number of other possible origins for the word, including "complete nervous breakdown," or "compulsory self-degradation."

Indeed, there is perhaps no more humbling experience in the world than taking one's first comp piece to his adviser. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph, the writer is emasculated. The most one can hope for is a kind "This stinks," or some other system pathetic comment which does the job in one fell blow. Unfortunately, most compers are subjected to the slow method, slieing along word by word, phrase by phrase, with comments like "Oh, I don't know about this adjective," or "Have you ever really seen nuns wrestle?"

FOR THOSE who are strong enough to finish a comp, or sit through a committee meeting, or even walk on to the football team, however, the benefits are enormous. For those who make it in polities, there is the assurance that no pleasantries or treachery will ever surprise them in the course of their CIA careers. For those who are elected to a publication, there is the knowledge that things can only get better once the ego has been destroyed, and, most importantly, that once they have made it, they can set get away with anything.

For those who give up, there is the cattle prod.