And Warner says he does not think tutors care about students' "mental well-being."

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III says there are no College guidelines specifying the amount of time tutors must spend with students.

The Role of House Tutors

Several tutors, including Cabot House Senior Tutor Julian P. Chang '86, say they play active roles in students' lives.

"In Cabot House, the tutors have a relationship where the tutors do talk to students about all kinds of things, either to throw ideas off them or to check up on them," Chang says.

Tutors are well-trained to deal with suicidal students, Mather House Senior Tutor Mary Peckham says. This fall, she says, new senior tutors met with Catlin to discuss depression and other mental health issues.

"I think that each house has enough experienced people within its ranks [to deal with suicidal students]," Epps says.

Peckham thinks tutors handle student problems well, especially since tutors come from a variety of different backgrounds and are thus able to talk to a wide range of students.

"Sometimes students will come to me to talk about feelings of [being] depressed," says Peckham.

Finding Help

Valerie A. Gordon '94, whose boyfriend, James P. Houghton '94, committed suicide in September 1992, says her senior tutor in Lowell House--Alexandra L. Barcus--was "very helpful" after Houghton's suicide.

Barcus offered Gordon, who lived off-campus, a room in Lowell House and help.

Houghton, an English and Fine Arts concentrator and member of the Fly Club, was found fatally shot in the courtyard of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on September 20, 1992. He committed suicide because he was tormented by obsessive feelings and questions about life he felt he could not answer, says Gordon.

But William, a Harvard sophomore who says he survived more than one suicide attempt, now thinks that almost no problems--including obsessions and doubts about life--merit attempting suicide.

Shortly before arriving at Harvard, William almost shot himself. Before this, he attempted suicide by overdosing on drugs.