The Dog Beneath the Skin

There is a little rule in the book of College regulations that is as heartless as it is unbelievable. It goes: "No student shall keep an animal in a College building," and within those few terse words is a world of misery and denied love. Picture to yourself the Yardling who has to leave his beloved goldfish at home for the cook to tend, while he goes out to face the bleakness of Stoughton Hall, alone. A real General Education will have to wait until the onerous ukase is removed.

And there are other implications, of which the pet turtle bootlegging ring is only one example. Not only is the grocery store cat in constant danger from the racketeers, but even the squirrels in the Yard are not safe. The story of the captured rat of Hollis Hall, for which the world is not yet ready, is known by some and suspected by many, but the tale is too horrible to tell. It is enough to say that had the event been made open and legal by University Hall from the beginning, many lives and many hearts would have been spared.

Of course the men in charge have their reasons. In the Harvardevens incident of only this month, one man said, "dogs should not be running around kissing children." That certainly cannot be denied, but the only children in the Houses belong to the Housemasters, and they should be able to fend for themselves. Picture a bevy of pet flamingoes gambolling in the Lowell quadraugle, and then ask yourself if the ruling should stay. Only one answer is possible. Picture the physics concentrator taking a moment off from his studies to pat his dachshund, and think again. Let us hope that in the future "feeding time at Winthrop House" will take on a new, more exciting meaning.