Housing Trouble

Several factors have combined to drive the number of men living in the College above last year's all-time peak: the graduation of many married students formerly living outside the College, the invulnerability of men for draft during their current year, and the discontinuance of enforced commuting. Coupled with less important changes such as the drop in the mortality rate, these shifts have brought about temporary housing of Freshman in the gym and placed extra men in rooms throughout the College.

Means of improvement of the unhappy situation are necessarily slow and difficult if any but an arbitrary system of assignment is attempted. The housing authorities have however, profited by two similar autumns, and the discomfort, particularly in the case of the Freshmen in the gym, has been much alleviated. The beds are more comfortable, study conditions better, and the closing hour of the Boylston Reading Room has been extended from 10 to 11 o'clock in the evening.

Most important of the changes lies in the fact that all upperclassmen are eating in the Houses. The Union is consequently less crowded, serving its purpose as a Freshman center, and upperclassmen not living in Houses will at least have House privileges.

The chief complaint arises from the House masters' policy of preserving balance in their various domains by admitting numbers of Sophomores while Juniors stay festering in Aploy, Dudley, Clayerly, or Little Halls. Although it is hoped that all Juniors and Seniors will be assigned to Houses in the next few weeks, it is of little consolation to the unfortunate of last year, this year, and probably next year, that balance is preserved in the House which postpones his admissions.

Although housing conditions have worsened over last year, several of the inequalities have been removed from the policy. Because House dining halls were losing money last year while the Union was hopelessly overworked, the Masters have been forced to relent on their luxurious policy of refusing non-resident members. Because of an unexpected demand on all College living facilities, the Juniors and Seniors not yet in Houses have an excellent chance of immediate admission. Such an accident will not work for the unlucky members of the Class of '51 who fail to find House accommodations next fall. The Housemasters should take the last big step forward removing the unfairness of House admission by favoring seniority over balance.