THE COMMON ROOMS

The ever-growing Freshman Classes raise afresh each year the problem of the new men getting acquainted. This goes farther than the casual "hello," for a real acquaintance with one's class means an intimate friendship with a small number and a psychological understanding of many more. As in all large colleges cliques will appear after the first year. Therefore every possible aid towards unifying the spirit of the class must be considered during the Freshman year.

Harvard's chief weapons in this war against the unfortunate evils of expansion are the early competitions and the Freshman Dormitories. The great number of candidates who respond to the varied calls of teams and managerships is evidence that these instruments are doing good work in assimilating the annual seven hundred.

The Common Rooms of the Freshman Dormitories present an ideal place for men to become acquainted, and thus far their full value for this purpose has not been realized. Meetings of committees, societies and all organizations should be held in the Common Rooms. In order to make these three rooms the logical places for all social gatherings, interdormitory smokers might be instituted. In addition to the Glee Club rehearsals which are held in the Common Rooms now, informal entertainments could be arranged by special committees for the purpose of bringing a large number of men together. In fact the Common Rooms are the logical places for Freshmen to gather and enjoy the companionship of their classmates. The right and full use of these obvious aids to class unity will simplify for the Freshmen the problem of becoming acquainted with their classmates.