"It seemed like people were calling the registrar before calling the police," Fried said.
Mitten will be holding an informal meeting for class members the night before the exam with members of University Health Services, the Bureau of Study Counsel, and teaching fellows from the class to give students an opportunity to talk about their concerns.
"I just hope Harvard is
human before it's academic," Fried said.
Some students, however, are dissatisfied with Pedersen's decision.
"I think it's appallingly arrogant that the Core Office thinks they know more about a class than the professor. It acts on its own behalf, and not the students'," said Brad R. Sohn '02.
Sohn said he plans to take the seated, proctored exam, because he thinks a take-home exam would be graded with more scrutiny.
--Staff writer Adam M. Lalley can be reached at lalley@fas.harvard.edu.