"Space! Money! Resources! Cash!"

Four Harvard Students are screaming about money, power and real estate at fever pitch. A commanding voice breaks out over the din: "Space, resources and money. It's about who controls that, and how they're distributing it." Mutterings can be heard. A dark-haired senior with horn-rimmed glasses grumbles about "having a 19-billion dollar endowment and no equipment," while the blond female mentions grants, budgets, and out-of-pocket expenses. And finally, a soft-spoken young man quietly mentions "the Administration."

And then a nice, chipper waitress wearing a red apron leans over the table. "Would you like rice with your Crispy Chicken?"

Because this is not a meeting of the Harvard Corporation, or a Goldman interview, but a table of hungry artists. And the option of white rice, at no additional cost, is something they listen to.

In search of the truth about the Arts at Harvard, The Crimson set up a round table of student artists last week. And what, you ask, did we find? We found out that Sarah C. Haskins '01 is a vegetarian, when she isn't eating pork dumplings, that Jesse A. Green '02-'03 lives across the hall from the Rugby team, and that James C. Augustine '01 is, in fact, the mother of W. David Marx '01. We found out that the Loeb Experimental Theater doesn't have a sound system, that performance space is of primary concern to artists of various genres, and that it is nearly impossible to get into a VES class, no matter how pretty you are. We discovered, in short, what we already knew existed: a passionate, feisty group of young artists, constantly pushing both at the boundaries of their own art and those of the artistic community at Harvard. Let the food fly.

STARVINGARTISTS