C'mon, Canaday Isn't All That Bad

The recent salvo of editorials in The Crimson and Independent regarding Canaday have been quite amusing, but Canaday is probably here to stay. While it may be rather ironic that Harvard forced the Cambridge Fire Department to "Georgify" their station by Memorial Hall and then promptly built Canaday next door, complaining about it isn't going to anyone much good.

I admit I have taken part in a few "knock down Canaday" discussions, the most memorable one on the UC shuttle back form the Game when a somewhat drunk fellow suggested we "sczhip sczhe whole schzing over to New Haven, where it would (hic) fit In." However impractical this may be, it does reflect the views of a great many Harvard students.

But, if we do get rid of Canaday, of course we'd have to chuck the Science Center. The Holyoke Center isn't exactly all red brick too; Leverett Towers aren't masterpieces of Georgian architecture.

All in all, we've got a lot of campus to wipe out. Don't get me wrong, it would be great to have a wrong, it would be great to have a Weld or Matthews at every street corner, but it isn't going to happen.

Furthermore, as your editor points out, Canaday isn't all that bad. Call me biased; the guy that gave money for the place hails form Toledo, Ohio. Having lived in Toledo awhile (actually about until a year ago) we have a lot of buildings that look like Canaday. In fact, nobody back home really complains about them.

Then again, we're not Harvard or Boston either. Harvard has dorms like Wigglesworth. Although "Canaday offers it residents something that other dorms can't...with its six entryways, Canaday forms its own close-knit community," it can't top Wigglesworth. Hell, we've only got 11 entryways ourselves. Our beautifully constructed and extremely long dormitory is about a hundred years old and gets to guard the South Yard form invasion by Massachusetts Avenue.

Don't get me wrong; I love Wigglesworth. The paints' peeling, there's four of us in a suite originally designed for two, and our sinks and showers don't work right. The maintenance response people know us on a first name basis, although we don't' even know some of the names of people in the next entry.

The University should definitely spend its money and knock down Canaday; maybe they can construct Wigg II or something out there. It would be better than having lots of space in your rooms and singles by far. Pathik Patel '97