The Press., 1922-10-26
STUDY AND WORK
Columbia Students Give Cafe-
 teria an Atmosphere"
Variety of Races and Countries Repre- sented ln Small New York
 Eating Place.

There Is one cafeteria in New York where the dishwashers discuss relativ- ity and the fourth dimension, where the countermen have master degrees, where the bus boys are prepared to give an opinion on the Genoa confer ence, or the RapallO agreement. This cafeteria is located in a One-stOry building just back of the massive gray dOmed library of Columbia university and is best known by it's title of "cOm- mons," the New York Sun points out.
 Needy students are given all the jobs in this cafeteria, with the exception of some managerial positions and those in the culinary department.
 A visit to this cafeteria little after noon on a week day in the company of one familiar with the place and its habitues will yield some interesting in- formation. The man who serves the soup, for example, is Nova Scotian. A student of journalism, he is earning his way through by free lancing and by doing odd bits of work. Beside him is Greek, in this country only year, but already master of English.
 
 is a native of Turkestan, pre-medi- cal student. He has announced his intention of leaving Columbia at the end of the present semester to con- tinue his studies at Iowa State univer- sity, because the expenses are less at the latter institution. The HOO miles " from New York to Iowa he is to travel by emulatfng Jack London in his ad- verse days. This man will practice in Persia when he has finished his educa- tiOn.
 Behind the salad counter stand two Chinese students, both beneficiaries of provincial government scholarships worth about $9O a month There are more than 300 Chinese students in New York city alone, it is said, and more than 2,0OO in~the whole country, mostly sent here by their governments. At the dessert counter is Japanese.
 Further along are to be found native American cOuntermen, like the others, obliged to earn their way through school. The man who operates the butter cutting machine was a seaman all the early years of his life and went up as far as a third mates berth be- fore he decided to chuck the sea and get an education. He has four years of college and two in a professional school ahead of him, even after he works off his matriculation require ments. Besides this work at the cafe teria he has a job taking care of an old man, paralytic
 Among the dishwashers is a Hindu, already the possessor of a masters de gree and now working on his thesis for doctOrate In another year he hopes to return to India, where he has wife waiting for him, and take charge of an Indian college.
 There is cosmopolitan air about those who eat in this cafeteria. At one table there may be seen group of Olive-skinned Filipinos, more than 100 of whom are now studying in New York city. Next to them there may be two or three striking blonde students, presumably Scandinavians A Mesopo- tamian, student of philosophy, is frequenter of this place So are two Russian students and several Italians l It is probably one of the most cosmO- politan eating places in the city and one of the most interesting when some thing of the history of the employees !, here Is discovered, and something is learned of their struggle against odds to get an education s - ---g4. -z.-