Last year, you could have asked any Harvard security guard about their job security and probably would have gotten the same answer: "I won't be here." Now in the fall of 1999, most aren't.

There are, by the count of University officials, less than 25 uniformed Harvard guards on campus. Most guard booths are now staffed by subcontracted security guards.

That's down from nearly 50 Harvard security guards a year ago. And, in a year from now, there will likely be less than 20.

Last Thursday, a handful of senior guards retired, accepting a University-offered buyout of their contract.

The remaining guards, part of the union which also represents Harvard's parking attendants and Fogg Museum guards, do have a new contract--their first since becoming an independent labor organization in 1995.

But few are happy--though a large majority signed the deal this summer.

They allege that the University has sacrificed security to profit, holding out on a new contract while hiring cheaper, outsourced guards. Since the contract was ratified in July, the union has filed several complaints against the University.

Stephen G. McCombe, the president of the guards' union, declined to comment for this story.