Provost Buck has approved the permanent conversion this summer of 20 doubles in Richards and William James Halls into 40 singles, William G. McLoughlin, Jr., assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, said last night.

The change is due to the greater demand for singles than for doubles. Steel partitions, similar to those separating present singles, will replace the present draw-curtains in the doubles. About 37 doubles will then remain for G.S.A.S. students in the two halls.

Applications for rooms this summer in Richards and James will open today on a first-come first-serve basis at Farlow House. Those men already living in these dormitories should have field their applications by last Friday.

McLoughlin said that Harkness Dining Hall and probably Harkness Common Room will be closed during the summer. Students may eat in the Union instead.

Perkins, Conant, and Divinity Halls will shut down during the summer for general repairs. This work continues from 1950 as part of a three-year general renovation policy. James and Richards Halls will stay open because they were listed in a poll as top preferences for summer quarters.