ADDITION OR NECESSITY?

In a release from University Hall, published in the news column today, mention is made of "several suggestions for a permanent memorial to the 372 Harvard men who lost their lives in the World War". It is further reported that these suggestions have been carefully considered by the Committee in charge of the matter but that no decision has been reached.

This would seem to imply that the question is still open and that discussion is invited. Although the Committee, as a matter of fact, ask for the opinion of graduates, we feel that it will not consider the expression of an undergraduate opinion unwarranted even if not particularly significant.

The three proposals which have been already made are for a new chapel, a new auditorium, and a new dormitory. Of these three the first two can be described as "welcome additions to our equipment", the last as an absolute necessity.

Early in the fall, in speaking of the Phillips Brooks House Information Bureau, we called attention to the fact that nearly two hundred members of the incoming class were forced to take what lodgings they could find in the Cambridge boarding houses, and we pointed out that practically nothing was known of the desirability of the houses at which Freshmen might apply. At the time the CRIMSON felt strongly that this was an intolerable situation; that such treatment, considering the youth of many of the first year men, was almost criminal neglect; and that unless some provision could be made to take care of at least all the first year students, their numbers should be limited to our capacities.

For that reason we believe that any talk now about building a new chapel or a new auditorium or a new gymnasium is to be regretted in so far as it will obscure this real and immediate need. As for the graduates, if they could come to understand the vital necessity of decently providing for our new students, they would not hesitate to reject for the present the project of a new chapel or an auditorium and heartily endorse the proposal to build a new quadrangle dormitory.