Students Open Mather 'Room 13'

"Room 13," an autonomous student organization designed to handle a wide variety of student problems and requests for information, will begin its operations in Room 13, Mather House, tonight.

Fourteen undergraduates working in pairs of one man and one woman will form the staff of Room 13. The students can be contacted every evening from 8 p. m. to 2 a. m. by telephone (495-4969) or by just stopping in.

"We hope to provide something in between talking to a friend or roommate and seeing a psychiatrist," said Margaret McKenna '70, teaching fellow in Social Relations, who planned Room 13 last fall with Dr. Paul A. Walters Jr., psychiatrist to University Health Services.

Walters said that he was looking for a new way of dealing with drug problems when he heard about Room 13. "Then it occurred to us that we didn't need something limited to drugs. That would be overlooking other problems students have and feel even more uncomfortable with."

McKenna described Room 13 as "an information clearinghouse." The staff will have close ties with resources at Harvard and in the community, and "if they can't help, they'll know where to find someone who can," McKenua said.

"What does Sanctuary really do?" and "Can I get an abortion through Pregnancy Counseling?" are a few examples of questions Room 13 would be able to field, McKenna said.

The entire staff is participating in a training group sponsored by the Bureau of Study Counsel to develop their skills as listeners. "We're not therapists or professionals," said McKenna, "but we do believe that listening in itself is doing something. No one is imposing on us by calling or coming to see us."

Room 13 may double its staff and stay open all night if the need is demonstrated. "I don't know how many people will call," said McKenna. "This place is so lonely and people's pride is pretty ingrained. But there are people around this university who care, and we're trying to demonstrate that."