Group Urges Renovations For Mather

A Mather House security committee has drawn up proposals to improve the safety of residents there, after the rape three weeks ago of two women at Leverett House.

The top priority of the proposals is to reduce non-residents' access to Mather, Harry Orf, senior tutor at Mather House and chairman of the security committee, said yesterday. Two proposals call for the installation of a higher back fence and improvement of security at the main gate, he said.

Mobile Gate

The committee is considering whether to propose moving the main gate toward the courtyard, where the House superintendent can watch it, or building a guard station next to it, Orf said.

The proposals are "only in the planning stages," David Herlihy, master of Mather House, said yesterday.

Orf said he would forward the proposals to Francis A. Lawton, assistant dean for facilities, some time this week.

Lawton said yesterday he would wait for proposals to come in from all the Houses before he evaluates them.

Wide Open

"Mather is a wide-open House with a double front gate that's always open, side gates, and a back fence that outsiders can easily climb," Orf said.

He added that the new Mather junior common room attracts trouble-makers to late-night parties at the House.

Orf said he had no idea of the cost of the proposed renovations, but that "the cost should be of minimum importance if the changes will help in a permanent way to make Mather safe."

Other suggestions of the Mather security committee include the installation of additional locks and lighting, and the permanent locking of the side gates.

A similar committee at Dunster House is drawing up a proposal for a bells desk at the main entry of that House, Tina Tchen '78, chairman of the Dunster House Committee, said yesterday. She said the committee hopes to try out the idea for two weeks in December.