Adams Group Need Not Pay To Rehearse

The Adams House Drama Society will not have to pay for night rehearsals in the House dining hall after all. L. Gard Wiggins, Administrative vice-President, said yesterday that the ruling which forced the group to pay charges of $10 per night will be reconsidered, "starting from scratch."

In establishing the regulation which required the payments, the Administration had decided that "the cost of special functions should not be absorbed by the Dining Hall department," Wiggins said. The $10 fee covered the expense of lighting for night rehearsals in Adams, Robert T. Martin, manager of the House dining hall, explained.

Instituted some months ago, the ruling merely shifted the cost burden from the dining halls to the Houses. The Adams incident marked the first attempt to apply the charges to a student group.

Conferred with Secretary

"The Adams House secretary asked the dining hall manager and they agreed that $10 would be reasonable," Wiggins said. He added that Martin thought the members of the Society had accepted the ruling, "but it seems they hadn't, or else they've changed their minds." Martin also claimed that the Society members who talked to him admitted that the rates were "fair."

Wiggins noted, "The manager thought the charges were cleared with the Master, but apparently they had not been." One reason the regulation was rescinded was that Reuben A. Brower, Master of Adams House, was unhappy about not being consulted, Wiggins said.

Martin said he assumed Brower must have known about the charges, "because the House secretary sent the boys down to find out about the costs."

The Drama Society must still pay $27 for each night of public performance--for a man to watch the kitchen, which must be kept open as a fire exit--and $35 for removing and replacing steam tables.