Harvard may be a breeding ground for tomorrow's leaders, but it's losing ground today.

The January-February issue of Harvard Magazine counts 40 Harvard affiliates in the 104th Congress, down from 48 in the 103rd.

Only 10 members of the current Congress were Harvard undergraduates, and 35 members total have other degrees from Harvard.

"We've always had more than our fair share of members of the Congress," said John P. Reardon Jr. '60, executive director of the Harvard Alumni Association. "We've had very large numbers of people, especially in the last 30-40 years."

Harvard Connections

Decreased numbers don't mean decreased connections, however.

Rep. Robert C. Scott '69 (D-Va.) lived in Dunster House with Vice President Albert Gore '69.

"I was good friends with his roommate," Scott said. "He was just one of the guys."

Rep. Thomas E. Petri '62 (R-Wis.) was involved in politics even at Harvard. As a member of the Undergraduate Council, he worked to free up study hours at Lamont Library and to lift restrictions on campus-wide parties over Head of the Charles weekend.

"[Rep.] Barney Frank ['61 (D-Mass.)] and I were on the student council together," Petri said.

"We weren't alike then either," he said.

Frank remembers Petri, too.

"He was called Tim then," Frank said. "He was a moderate Republican."

'Build Confidence'

Frank said his time at Harvard helped prepare him for the political arena.