Seniors Hand Thesis Load to Faculty

Seniors concentrating in Social Studies, Government and History turned in their theses yesterday amidst relief and grogginess.

"I've been up every night this week except one. It's amazing how late you can stay up once your adrenaline gets going," Patricia M. Nolan '80, a Social Studies major said yesterday. "This whole thesis thing is pretty crazy--you have wild mood swings and you find yourself going through phases of loving and hating your thesis." she added.

"One guy brought in a six-pack of beer and drank one the minute after he handed in his thesis," Gerard F. Denault, tutorial secretary for the History Department said. "Our wierdest story, however, is about someone who put their thesis into a computer and lost two chapters on magnetic tape. It's really too bad--he's applying for a waiver of our penalty of subtracting two points per hour," he added.

Denault said more History concentrators wrote theses this year than in any year since 1968.

Merry I. White, asst. head tutor of East Asian Studies, also noted the resurgence of interest in thesis writing. "Our thesis is optional, and out of 23 seniors, 22 have opted to write thesis. It shows real intellectual interest, and I think that is very exciting," she said.

White also cited the broad range of topics being covered this year. "We have people writing about career women in Japan, arranged marriages in Japan as a social phenomenon, and a court case that is going on in California right now," White said.

"The thesis is a major source of identity for a student. This is the one big thing they can do at Harvard as an undergraduate," she added.

Scott W. Pink '80, a Social Studies major, agreed with White's assessment. "Although it was definitely a hard experience, it was worth it," Pink said, adding "This is your one chance at Harvard to be creative--to formulate a question and answer it yourself."

Richard A. Greer '80, Pink's roommate whose Folklore thesis is due today, was less optimistic. "Theses suck--I have nothing good to say about my thesis," he said.