While half of Harvard merchandise is sold in the United States--most of that concentrated in eastern Massachusetts--Calixto says that the attraction that brings tourists to Harvard sells the Harvard name very well abroad.

"People call us for Harvard toilet paper, Harvard condoms, Harvard credit cards, but I can say no to these things because the University is now protecting its own mark," he says.

Calixto says that the biggest headaches for the Trademark Office are in foreign countries. In Korea, for example, one company is marketing "Harvard Eggs," with the promise that eating them will make one smarter.

All major souvenir merchants in the Square say they sell officially-licensed merchandise, meaning that 7.5 percent of the profits from every sweatshirt bought at the Coop is returned to the Trademark Office in royalties.

These royalties, which Calixto estimates $500,00 each year, are funnelled to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles says that since 1991, the Harvard Corporation and FAS have agreed that this money should be put directly into undergraduate scholarships.

"We wanted to be able to say that yes, we do collect money from the use of the name, but it goes to scholarships," Knowles says. "I'm happy that we have a higher purpose."

Problems and Solutions

The most obvious problem tourists pose is one of pure logistics--the appearance of a large tour group in the Yard blocks traffic on paths and bottlenecks at the doors to buildings such as Widener Library and Memorial Hall.

Huppe says that large tour groups trying to enter Widener Library this summer had eventually to be turned away after repeated bottlenecks kept students and Faculty out.

Yard paths have been paved and cordoned off, and the semicircle of pavement in front of the John Harvard statue was laid in the 1980s to protect Yard grass. Otherwise, Huppe says that no steps have been taken to decrease tourist traffic.

"That's private property, but we're not contemplating changing the way we control it," Huppe says. "It's part of our research to see whether we could bring some measure of control to the process. The goal is not to make money, although we would like to break even."

"If someone is going to spend the money to come from Germany, Japan or the Netherlands, we should spend the time and money to welcome them," he adds.

University officials and administrators uniformly say they had heard no student complaints.

"One time a tourist was staring into our bathroom, but that's about the only problem I've had," says William A. Fokol '01, whose room in the J entry of Wigglesworth Hall is next to the Mass. Ave. gate through which most tourists enter.