The Glass Eaters

Last fall Sophomore Jay Bennett, a fullback on Harvard's football team, read that a professional player was "so mean that he ate glass." After a few drinks at a party, Bennett set out to prove that eating glass had nothing to do with meanness. He unscrewed the bulb from a nearby lamp and ate it. The kooky stunt so pleased him and his audience that Bennett, 21, has since consumed a dozen bulbs. He has also set off-the campus' most bizarre craze since Lothrop Withington Jr. swallowed a live goldfish at the Freshman Union in 1939.

A number of students are now munching, light bulbs--as an after-dinner treat in the dining halls, or a light, between-meals snack in their rooms.

Consuming goldfish requires a quick,

guzzling technique. Light bulbs call for a bit of preparation and mastication.

First the bulb eater cracks the glass into slivers and discards the filament and socket screw; there are limits even to an undergraduate's digestive prowess.

Then he chews the glass one shard at a time into a fine powder and swallows it. There is said to be no taste at all.

For spice, some students take a bit of salad dressing, while others use crunchy Granola. Most have no preference for brands or wattage ("I eat whatever the university uses," says one). .

That is the least of Harvard administrators' worries. Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III recently called in Bennett and another glass eater and attempted to wean them away from their strange habit. After all, slivers of glass can lodge in the intestinal tract, producing inflammation or obstruction.

They can also perforate the bowel. But Bennett says that he is unconcerned:

"At first I was a little worried about the chemicals and stuff, but they don't seem to have had any effect on me."

Why are even a handful of students taking up so silly and risky a fad? Some undergraduates suggest jokingly that the quality of food served in university dining halls might explain the hunger for bulbs. Even Epps admits: "It's clear that something is missing from their diet." Or is the void somewhere else?

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