"I ended up forcing students to go and listento the professors," he says.

The Harvest Moon Festival also flopped "becausestudents were just not interested," he added.

Kirkland House Master Donald H. Pfister hasencountered the same problem.

"I come up with an idea and think it will bevery dandy," Pfister says, "but I am often humbledby the discovery that not everyone thinks it is socool."

Liem says he provideS funds for the DunsterHouse Opera, but the House dining hall's musicalextravaganza was completely spurred by studentinitiative.

"I would have never thought the Opera wouldhave come off the ground," Liem laughs. "Now itbrings such richness to the House."

Certainly masters would agree that their liveswould be much easier if supporting student groupswere their only activity.

It's not.

Double Duty

Ware is the acting dean of the School of PublicHealth while Pforzheimer House Master James J.McCarthy is the head of the Museum of ComparativeZoology.

And the list goes on. House masters dodouble--or even triple--duty, often serving ashigh-level University administrators andprofessors in their fields.

Assuming the responsibilities of the mastershipoften means sacrificing professional and personaltime.

"You can't do everything--you have to givethings up," says Leverett House master John E.Dowling '57, who will retire at the end of thesemester after 17 years at the helm.

Accustomed to lecturing around the world,Dowling says he had to adjust his travel schedulebecause of House obligations.

"I haven't minded that so much," says Dowling,who is also Cabot professor of the naturalscience. "What's important is to prioritize.Masters can get burned out early on if they try todo everything. You have to call your shots. Youhave to pace yourself to be a long-term master."