VACATION RESTRICTIONS

It is with considerable concern that the undergraduates are coming to realize that this year the customary time allowance, by which men of the middle west have been able to reach home on the first day of a vacation, is not to be given. Residents of Buffalo, Cleveland, and Chicago, who have heretofore left Cambridge one day early, and men from points farther west who have always been allowed two days of grace, must arrive home anywhere from 12 to 24 hours late for their all too brief rest from College duties.

Doubtless the authorities feel justified this year in demanding strict attendance to the end, for according to the Catalogue, the vacation does not properly begin until Monday, and by that time all except the far-westerners will be at home. As a matter of fact no one can logically deny that the work of this semester ends on Saturday, December 21, and it is grossly unfair to allow the Massachusetts men to begin their enjoyment at that time, while the rest are still in the throes of sleeping car inconvenience. Harvard is an eastern University. The western representation is proportionately small--unfortunately so--and it is a poor encouragement when the vacation privileges of the westerners are restricted out of all proportion to those of men living in this locality.

In comparison with other universities our vacation periods are discouragingly short, and here again the western man is at a big disadvantage. In many instances he must leave home before New Year's day in order to comply with the strict registration requirements. It seems a short-sighted policy. This year we believe that the vacation might well be extended to Monday, January 6, thus allowing everyone to spend the full holiday season at home and rounding out the vacation to the usual university length.