Chronic Ailment

One week ago, a large proportion of the undergraduates who live at Houses fed by the Kirkland central kitchen were struck down by dysentery. The victims rose as a man and demanded that something be done. Immediately, the University Sanitation Office offered a two-point program to halt further outbreaks. The first part of this program is `1unenforcable; the second is no preventive.

First, the Department has asked all kitchen employees to report to the Hygiene Building if they believe that their ill health may endanger the food they are handling. Hygiene would then examine them and decide whether they should receive a full day's pay. Yet this system has been in operation for the past five years, and it did not prevent polluted gravy last Thursday night. Nor can we expect it to prevent food poisoning in the future. It is impossible to give each employee a medical checkup every day, and if the honor system has failed before, why should it start working now?

Second, the Sanitation Department will retain samples of all food served for 24 hours afterward. But even the authorities who recommended the step admit it cannot prevent poisoning. At the most, saving food can only make the task of finding the offending dish easier.

University officials point out that the Dining Halls have fewer ptomaine outbreaks than any restaurant in the Boston area. Ptomaine, however, is not a relative thing. One epidemic is one too many. It seems little more than ironic that the Dining Halls should point with pride while 1000 undergraduates suffer from dysentery.

Nothing constructive has been done by the University to prevent further outbreaks. The Student Council recommended Monday that a full-scale investigation of the Dining Hall setup be ordered by competent outside authorities. If the University is unwilling to make changes on its own, this is the only solution.