TRAFFICS AND DISCOVERIES

The idea of cloistering the Yard with a fringe of small dormitories, as set forth in the new building program, is almost certain to arouse student opposition from at least a portion of the undergraduate body. It is new. It is sudden. Above all, it seems to encroach upon what many members of the University have time out of mind considered hallowed ground. So away with it.

Afer the usual amount of deliberate thought, however, the idea rather grows on one. It is perfectly true that the Yard has always been considered complete--sacred territory, free from the spade of the laborer and the hammer of the stonemason. But that does not mean that it need always remain so. The new buildings are well placed, and their design is in harmony with the best of the existing Colonial Yard architecture.

In a way it is unfortunate that a wider degree of publicity was not accorded the building plans before they were put into execution. Although the final decision of the planning board is doubtless the most practicable, there will be many who feel that further extension of the University should be carried on in the territory lying between the Yard and the River, rather than in the already occupied area of the Yard itself. There were doubtless many valid reasons, however, for the rejection of this program in favor of the one now in operation, which those in charge of the physical extension of the University will no doubt publish in the near future.