They Come by Day

Unlike a great many colleges, the University has always encouraged a large number of commuting students. At present, about 20 percent of undergraduates are non-residents, and the University wants to keep that percentage in the future.

This group is no problem in the classroom; it is definitely a problem in the non-academic life of the College. For commuters miss much of the association with fellow students and teachers, many of the activities that are part of outside-the-classroom education. The University has so far provided a part solution with the Commuter Center in Dudley Hall. There non-residents can relax, eat together, and form teams and organizations. The Center and its officials are doing as good a job as they can.

That is not good enough. Both the Administration and people in charge of the Center admit that the present setup is inadequate to serve properly its 20 percent of the College. The Center is too small to handle even its present membership, and its facilities are not nearly so good as those enjoyed by the other 80 percent. The available space cannot be increased; the Center has already taken down every wall it can. With the Center running into a deficit each year--members contribute only a five dollar fee--its managers cannot afford to increase or renovate facilities.

There are two possible solutions, neither of which will satisfy everyone concerned. The College could find a suitably large space, and construct an adequate center, once and for all. Such a center would accommodate every commuter, and provide an attractive plant for their use. Or the University might close the present Center, and allow commuters to become members of the Houses, sharing House facilities and activities.

Critics of the first plan argue that its cost may be high, and that, once the center went into operation, commuting students would be permanently shut off from the rest of the College. All the advantages of contact with residents, professors, and tutors would be lost. Yet the second proposal, its proponents admit, would be met coldly by house-masters already complaining about overcrowding. Moreover, commuters, who must go home every night, might not fit easily into House activity schedules, geared for resident students.

Thus both of these solutions have defects. But either solution, would be better that the situation which exists now. The College has done the best it could for Commuters in the past; now its officials should make their decision, so those who come only by day can get their journey's worth.