HOUSING II

To the Editors of The Crimson:

As a member of the group of 144 Harvard and Radcliffe freshmen assigned against their will to Radcliffe Houses, I wish to express my approval of Peter Shapiro's analysis of the situation that appeared in Friday's Crimson, and I feel certain that the other members of the group share these sentiments.

The CHUL has seen fit to place arbitrary quotas and its concept of social engineering over the expressed wishes of those of us assigned to Radcliffe, and the result has been a housing mess that is undoubtedly the worst since coresidency was instituted. It almost seems that the CHUL is more concerned with numbers and an abstract concept of "sameness" than with the happiness and feelings of the students themselves. The CHUL's quotas fit their own goals -- but not the desires of the students.

The CHUL can take a first step to rectify this situation, however, at the Tuesday emergency meeting. By restoring Claverly Hall to the status it has held in the past -- an upperclass dorm -- and by placing the freshmen it was to have held at Radcliffe, the CHUL can alleviate much of the year's problem. Of course, this is not a long run solution to the housing dilemma -- the final answer will entail an improvement of the facilities at Radcliffe to make it more appealing, and a strict lottery system in which House preference is the only criterion of assignment. But it is a first step, and at least a partial answer to this year's problem.

The final decision lies with the CHUL. It can either attempt to consider the personal feelings of students, or it can arbitrarily take steps to achieve what it considers to be the "perfectly-mixed" House -- even if coercion is necessary. What we who desire to be placed in Claverly ask of the CHUL is this: think of us as people, not numbers. Think about our feelings and our enjoyment of the next three years of our "Harvard experience," and not just about social quotas. If the CHUL does this, the solutions we are all aiming for will be much more easily obtained. Paul D. Tosetti '76