Government Tough to Crack, Say Speakers

All three speakers at last night's Adams House conference on government service agreed on the difficulty of getting into the government and the hardships incurred, but emphasized even more strongly the challenges, rewards, and satisfactions gained from "life in the service of your country."

McGeorge Bundy, associate professor of Government, moderated the discussion.

Richard P. Butrick, Director General of the U.S. Foreign Service, stressed the interesting and satisfying work as one progresses in the Foreign Service.

"The Foreign Service," he said, "is a career service in every sense of the word. Entrance is made at the bottom." The Foreign Service test, he said, "is not a fearsome thing. Forty percent of the Harvard men taking it pass."

Allan Evans '24, Director of the Office of Intelligence Research, stated that "there is a tremendous amount of competition." He explained the great amount of research needed to formulate projects like the Marshall Plan, ECA, and point 4.

"If you are a lone wolf, though," he said, "don't come to us," for interrelating the products of research requires joint work by specialists in many different fields.

Fordyce W. Luikart, Chief of the Examining and Placement Division in the Civil Service, stated that "the public servant has to fight hard for his dignity and self respect."

The determining factors about entering government service, he said, depend on the person's motivations and philosophy of life--whether he wants to gain wealth and fame, which he will not find in the government, or to serve his country and live a satisfying and rewarding life.