Committee Will Prepare Fallout Protection Plans

The Administration has taken a first major step in preparing the University a possible nuclear attack.

Charles A. Coolidge '17, Acting President, is currently appointing a committee of representatives from the various schools in the University to determine what Harvard should do in the way of fallout shelters for students and personnel and protection for official records.

Corcern for the problem first appeared at the last meeting of the deans of the various schools before President Pusey left for his two-month trip. Pusey authorized Coolidge to designate a committee. The group, which has not been completely formed yet and stills lacks a chairman, has no present deadline for its report.

Edward S. Mason, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said that the meeting of the deans he had the impression that the Business School had proceeded further in planning for nuclear attack.

On its own, the Business School has studied use of its tunnel system and basement areas for shelters. It has arrived at no conclusions, however, as to what food and water provisions if any hold and what to do with its records. There are no plans at this point for building a new structure for shelter.

Like most other units of the University, the Business School has microformed its student records and uses the Harvard Forest in western Massachusetts for storage of some duplicate records.

In charge of the Business School study George W. Gibson, Director of the Division of Audio-Visual Education and part-time Civil Defense Director at the School.

Greater Boston, because of the area's population and resources and the Route industrial development complex, is known to be high on the list of areas the United States most probable for an enemy bombing attack. Within this area, Central Square is the "target point," according to Civil Defense estimates.