Student Council Refuses to Poll Students on Future of Mem Hall

The Student Council refused last night, by a vote of eight to seven, to poll student opinion on the future of Memorial Hall. The proposed poll would have asked students whether they favored reconstruction of the structure or demolition with the land used for another building. Carl S. Sloane '58, who proposed the poll, asserted that he will re-open the matter next Monday.

The Council voted unanimously, however, to lend "symbolic support to Hungarian students' fight for academic freedom." The support will take the form of a letter to be sent today to the United States delegation at the United Nations, the New York Times, and the Hungarian Student Union. The latter is the powerful Hungarian counterpart of the National Student Association.

Opponents of the proposed poll on Memorial Hall contended that it would be only a contest between modern and Gothic architecture, that the University probably could not change a memorial, and that it would involve consideration of the expansion problem.

Backers argued, however, that the University has already fulfilled its obligation to maintain the structure in good condition, and that the memorial aspect could be incorporated in any other use of the land. Also, they maintained, the University has many urgent uses for land.

In other Council voting, the deadline for candidate petitions in the Class Committee elections was moved from March to the third week in February. Recommended by the Administration to make the Committee a more unified body before graduation, the motion passed 11 to 1, over the objection that the new date would interfere with thesis writing.