Harvard students are expected to attend class, do problem sets, write papers and even pass the QRR. Every student obediently fulfills these responsibilities, yet Harvard still does not trust students to swipe their own cards through those little machines in the dining halls.

Instead, each dining hall has card checkers--those usually forgotten men and women who swiftly grab our cards and, with one flick of the wrist, swipe them through the machine.

The job is usually easy, most checkers concur, if students keep their cards handy and are not digging through their Kenneth Cole Reaction tote bag at the last minute. "Sometimes kids try to sneak in with no card," laments Lorena Vicente of Annenberg, on duty for breakfast, "and then we have to go after the kids." Checkers would normally get in trouble for allowing an un-swiped student to pass by, but Vicente says, "I usually don't like to [chase after a student], but we have to--especially if the bosses are around."

What is the procedure for a guilty student caught without a card? "If we catch a student trying to pass us, we just go to him and say 'Give me your number,'" says Vicente, while speedily grabbing cards with both hands. However, in the upperclass houses, the checkers find that students are more careful about bringing their cards to each meal. "All my students are very good here--I might even say excellent," says Mariya Gerolimatos of Eliot House. "If any try to get by me, I just call them back and get their number. Or I tell their friends to pay for them."

The skill needed for this type of job is often unrecognized, and every checker has a different technique. The checker at Adams House stares straight down at the machine, holds out her hand, and waits for students to pass her their card. Interestingly enough, she never lets one student by without being swiped, and although her head is down, she is aware of everything around her.

The checkers at Annenberg are known for their vigilance, but Gerolimatos even leaves her post sometimes when she wants to grab lunch herself. "When I let the students check their own card, they swipe it too fast," she complains, "and my computer starts to go a little crazy." Gerolimatos cheerfully greets each individual student, without having to cheat and peek at the names on the card. Unfortunately, few checkers have adopted this level of enthusiasm.

Are checkers aware of the dangers involved in their card-swiping activities? Most dismissed the threat of developing any type of medical difficulty. Carol Irvine of Kirkland House has been working for seven years, and says that she "has never had any problems." Vicente asserts that "your arm doesn't get tired--you get used to [swiping the cards.]"

And the job is definitely easier than it used to be. Vicente recalls that "You had to look up every student's number on a big board, and it was very difficult." The level of output of each checker seems to increase depending on stance and form, although once developing a set pace each checker swipes surprisingly quickly.

Annenberg requires its checkers to stand, and when their are two checkers at once, the synchronized card-swiping routine can be quite entertaining to watch. At the houses, most checkers find it easier to sit down and work with both hands and students are usually at fault for any delays in the line. Thus checkers are given an important responsibility that students could barely handle, with the added bonus of getting to laugh at hideous ID photos behind student's backs.FM