Love in the Afternoon

The advent of Spring again reminds us of the unfortunate scheduling of weekday parietal hours. While our natural inclinations would send us down to the playing fields to help the House athletic teams or out into the sun for various Mithraic rites, we are forced to entertain lady guests in our rooms during daylight hours.

This introverted escape from nature, which has become a national stereotype for the Harvard man, could be somewhat remedied by extension of parietal hours until ten o’clock each weekday evening. There is no reason to believe that the average student would have female guests in his room for any greater number of hours per week. There is, in fact, reason to believe that an extension would increase the amount of time spent studying. Students who spend their afternoons in female company often continue their activities into the dark, while those who date only at night might keep their afternoons free for less diverting pursuits.

But the major reason for an extension of parietal hours is that it would increase the physical vigor of the undergraduate. The University is defeating the whole, healthful purpose of Daylight Saving Time in maintaining the present regulations. Hours should be extended to ten o’clock to enable students to take advantage of the Cambridge Spring.