Examination Rooms

Two months ago the Harvard Council for Undergraduates affairs quietly presented to the Administration several proposals for improving the conditions of rooms used for final examinations. Modest in its demands, the HCUA asked that new lighting be installed in several rooms, Sever 37 not be used at all, Lowell Lecture Hall receive a new blackboard, clocks be visible in all rooms, water coolers be available, sufficient writing boards be provided, and rooms near construction work not be scheduled for exams.

The reports has now been thoroughly digested by the relevant authorities. Registrar Sargent Kennedy has informed the HCUA that while sympathetic to the requests, he fears sufficient funds may not be available to carry out many of the proposed reforms.

It would be most unfortunate if the University were not able to provide the needed improvements. Performance in an examination is the major and crucial test of a student's academic achievement in this college; the least the University can do is make certain that the exams are given under civilized conditions.

There is no excuse for the archaic lighting in such chambers as Emerson D and the Geological Lecture Room, the lack of writing boards in the Fogg lecture room, and the use of rooms bombarded with the sounds of a growing Harvard. And certainly it would not strain University finances to refinish the blackboard in Lowell Lecture Hall.

Administration officials have been telling the HCUA for two years they want constructive proposals. Now it is the University's time to act.