Von Stade Shuts Yard Study Hall, Charges Low Interest, High Costs

Special study space for freshmen, provided last spring in the basement of Memorial Church, will not be available this year, F. Skiddy von Stade '38, Dean of Freshmen, announced yesterday. The room will still be used during the day by Radcliffe students however.

"The room was just not used enough last year," Von Stade said, "to justify, in my opinion, the expense of re-opening it." The costs, he explained, include pay for a full-time attendant in addition to lighting, heat and air-conditioning.

The study hall was made available to freshmen "on an experimental basis" from January through May last year, after considering agitation by freshmen who claimed that Lamont study time was inadequate. It was open from 9.30 p.m. to midnight on weekdays, from 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays and from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 to midnight on Sundays.

Used In Reading Period

Philip J. McNiff, Lamont Librarian, who was in charge of the study hall last year, said that the room got a fair amount of use during the reading period and early part of exam period, but was nearly empty the rest of the term.

Meticulous records were kept by students all spring giving the exact counts six or seven times during the day. Average weekday attendance was between 15 and 20, dropping to below ten on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Asked whether he saw any likelihood of an extension in Lamont hours in the near future, McNiff said that high administration costs make an extension "out of the question."

"We could have to drastically curtail our services in order to add just a few hours," he said.