Every year in colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada, students are able to earn some of their school expenses selling TIME subscriptions to their fellow classmates. They are authorized TIME agents, one to a campus, who offer the magazine at a special student rate and earn a commission for each sale.

At the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, for example, TIME'S subscription agent is a law student by the name of Paul Halprin, better known on the campus as Mr. Magazine. Says he: "The students come here from all over the world and almost every country in the British Commonwealth. Naturally they are very news-conscious, and I find that over a cup of coffee at the 'Cafe' is the best time to put in a plug for the magazine. One factor that I run into selling TIME is the weather. In winter the thermometer stays below zero 90% of the time, and getting to classes is a big problem to all students. However, sales always rise in the winter, for it is the best time to read TIME and catch up on current events."

TIME Agent Mary Helen Colby of Wellesley College reports that selling subscriptions often leads to unexpected complications : "I have taken time out to give seniorly advice on topics ranging from how-to-lose-weight-for-the-coming-formal to writing freshman compositions in the approved manner." And speaking of freshmen, TIME Agent Nish Kechejian of Bates College says: "I have had pretty good results. Among the 115 male freshmen here, 105 have either an individual or a group subscription."

There are some TIME agents who earn as much as $800 to $1,000 a year, depending upon the size of the school and how hard they work. Says Roger Chapin of Middlebury College: "The hunting rifle and shotgun hanging on the wall in my room, the skis in the corner, the camera in my desk drawer and a canoe are all byproducts of TIME sales." When summer vacation at the University of Minnesota began last year, says our subscription agent Merrill Cragun, "I bought a convertible and took my first jaunt to the East Coast as a result of selling TIME." TIME commissions plus scholarships helped Bernard Tonchin work his way through Sir George Williams College in Montreal. And now he says, "TIME commissions are helping put me through dental school at McGill University."

Just like any salesmen, TIME agents have their problems. Francis Tokar of St. Bonaventure University reports: "I had been trying to sell a TIME subscription to a certain student for weeks. I finally wound up lending him the money to buy the subscription, and he left school without returning it. At long last, however, he did send a money order to cover the old loan." At Seton Hall University, Agent Irving Blau was stumped by a fellow student who refused to subscribe because TIME hadn't mentioned the remarkable Seton Hall basketball team. "However," says Blau, "the very next week, when there was a story on the team in TIME, I sold him a subscription." Pat DiNardo of New York University reports a counterproposition from a student who said: "Get me a new electric toaster wholesale, and I'll buy TIME." It was a deal. A few days later, armed with a sparkling new toaster in one hand and an order book in the other, Pat made his sale.

Another agent, who prefers to remain nameless, approached a young 1 lady in the school cafeteria, sold her a subscription within five minutes and stayed on to chat. Said he: "I asked for a date, which she firmly but politely refused. The following day in class this young lady appeared again, only this time in the capacity of my new English professor!"

Richard Gruen of Rutgers University reports a somewhat similar experience but with a happier ending: "I met a young lady at a fraternity party and tried to sell her a subscription. She put me off, but said I could talk to her about it later in the week. To make a long story short, I now expect to marry that young lady."

Incidentally, Gruen sold her a subscription too.

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