STUDENT COUNCIL FAVORS COMPULSORY MEMBERSHIP

At a meeting of the Student Council last evening, the following resolution was drawn up regarding compulsory membership to the Union:

"The Student Council votes approval of the report of its committee on the Union, and it declares its unqualified support of universal membership as being the only possible solution of the Union problem. It sets May 20 as a date upon which the classes shall vote upon the question and it urges that all undergraduates will seriously consider the report of this committee to the Council, and will vote with a realization of the importance of the question under consideration."

The Council approved the following appointments: Max Julius Meyer '18, of Gardner, second assistant manager of the lacrosse team: David Emery Lynn '19, of Youngstown, Ohio, manager of the Freshman lacrosse team.

It voted that the regiment band should be recognized as a college activity and that its use be recommended to all undergraduate organizations. It also voted the chairman of the Regimental Committee as a member ex-officio of the Student Council this year.

In regard to the question of hat-bands, the Council decided that no existing bands should be altered but that in the future all minor sports must have the colors red, white, and black in the hat bands, reserving red and black for the major sports.

The Council passed a recommendation to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that the number of theses, under the new plan of examinations in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, be cut down to a maximum of three each year; it also urged that an effort be made to have the required these serve in one or more courses wherever possible.

The report published below is the result of the investigations and public meetings held by a committee appointed by the Student Council, regarding com- pulsory membership to the Union. Different points of view and ideas were obtained on this subject and the total of them as arranged and tabulated by the committee's report expresses the diverse feelings of many undergraduates.

The committee was composed of the following: Kent Bromley '16, of New York, N. Y. (chairman), Robert Hewins Stiles '16, of Fitchburg, Henry Ludwig Flood Kreger '16, of Fairfield, Me., and Elijah Adlow '16, of Roxbury.

The Union as a Center.

Everyone has agreed that the Union as an undergraduate social center is indispensable. The two sides of college education and training roughly divided as the academic and social sides, were variously estimated. The majority valuated the two sides equally--that is, it was the consensus of opinion that a man derived as much benefit from the association with his classmates and the participation in the life of his class as he did from the strictly academic side of his college work. It was held that every member of a class by reason of his membership in the class should be able to enjoy and participate in the social activities of his class, and that this should not be dependent or conditioned upon membership in a private club which the Union is at present. The University furnishes class rooms, libraries, museums, and laboratories, and these are paid for by students in the tuition fee. If the social side of a man's college life has been estimated as being worth half, it seems reasonable that undergraduates should support the Union, the only institution which stands solely for the centralization of class and college activities as a whole. Of course there are many smaller institutions of a social nature in one of which almost everyone belongs where greater intimacy can be developed. But the Union is the only place where the classes can meet as a whole. The analogy between the Union and the college library was pointed out. The necessity of both in a college education is apparent. The support of the library is, rightly, included in the tuition fee, although the casual observer is not apt to look at it in that way. One's use of the library is not dependent or conditioned upon the payment of a voluntary fee.

Injustice of Present Situation.

The present situation of the Union was found to be unjust and intolerable for those who belonged and consequently supported it. The Union's income is derived entirely from membership fees and from any profit that there may be from the restaurant and from the sale of cigars and magazines, etc. Yet every year numerous public functions are held in the Union, such as class smokers, dinners, mass meetings, faculty receptions and dances, and lectures of one kind and another. In the case of undergraduate affairs, it has been estimated that in the last five years, only 55 per cent of the undergraduates have been members of the Union. Obviously, the injustice of this situation where 55 per cent. of the student body support an institution which is used largely for the benefit of everybody, is very great. It is interesting to note that if the rule that 80 per cent. of an organization must be members of the Union in order to hold any meeting there had been strictly adhered to, no class dinner, smoker, mass meeting, or other public affair would have been held in the Union.

Advantages of Universal Membership.

A great advantage to be gained by universal membership in the Union would be the centralization of undergraduate activities. Last year the Union officers attempted to make some arrangement with the Speakers' Club whereby that institution could be accommodated in the Union. The reason for this was the fact that the activities of the Union and the Speakers' Club coincide in several respects, and it would probably be advantageous to everyone if their work could be combined. At every point, however, the work of the officers of the two organizations was frustrated by the necessity of the Union requiring that the members of the Speakers' Club, in order to obtain a room in the Union, be members of the Union.

Many organizations, such as the Cercle Francais, International Polity Club, Deutscher Verein, Dramatic Club, Speakers' Club, Cosmopolitan Club, and many others of a like nature, could center their activities in the Union under the proposed system. The unfortunate effects of the keen competition of these many societies are seen many times. For instance, on April 8, M. Leroux, the editor of the "Paris Matin" and one of the most brilliant men of France today, spoke at the Union. He was in America engaged on a special mission to President Wilson. On the same evening, Mayor Curley spoke in Emerson Hall under the auspices of the Speakers' Club. This was not due to any lack of efficiency in the system of arranging dates, but simply represents a good example of the unfortunate effects of this keen competition. As it was, nearly two hundred heard Monsieur Leroux and a like number attended Mayor Curley's talk. The men in both audiences would probably have liked to have heard both men, but this was impossible.

Alternative Costly to Classes.

Since the injustice to the men who are required to support the Union is so great, a radical change will have to be made in conducting the activities of the Union in the future unless some form of universal support is adopted. Hence, it is not out of place to consider the alternative. It was the consensus of opinion at the hearing that the added expense to classes from the rent of halls for class smokers, dinners, dances and mass meetings if the Union were not at their disposal, would average five or six dollars per man if the expenses were borne equally by every man. In other words, a larger donation would be expected from members of each class, if the Union were compelled to close its doors in the future. By the proposed system of universal support, thus placing the Union under the wing of the University, the taxes and rent amounting to something like $6,500 will be removed.

Conditions Elsewhere.

There are not many precedents where Union membership is compulsory for the reason that not many universities have like institutions. At Brown University, and at Michigan, however, the fees are much lower, being $4.00 and $3.00 respectively. Of course the problem of these institutions are hardly comparable to those of the Harvard Union. The Agassiz House in Radcliffe College does not furnish nearly as many attractions as does the Harvard Union, yet compulsory membership is in operation there. It is also to be remembered that in many colleges everyone is taxed an Athletic Association fee for the support of athletics.

Effect on Poor Men.

The question of the effect of the proposed system for universal support of the Union on those men going through