GO SOUTH, YOUNG MAN

In yesterday's CRIMSON an article by a Harvard graduate and a present professor at the University of California which was reprinted in full from the "California Monthly" places the center of Harvard life in the Yard. With the advent of the House Plan and the resultant hegira toward the banks of the Charles there has arisen, and will probably continue to do so, a wailing chorus decrying the passing of ivy walls and boardwalks as the last-year men go down to the river.

It has been pointed out before that the custom of Seniors spending the last year in the Yard is comparatively new. But for some reason there has been no mention of a new tradition, if it can be termed such, which, though having risen from purely individual desire, may be called a true precursor of the House Plan. The past few years have seen an increasing number of upperclassmen solve the housing concerns of their final year by remaining on the Gold Coast. This, to a measure much larger than is apparent at first sight, has been a contributing cause to the destruction of class solidity and in its way will be an invaluable aid to the success of the new experiment. If, without the express wish of the College authorities, men have found it convenient and satisfactory to retain their rooms for three years, this feature, an essential detail in the new scheme, augurs well for the success of the whole system.

The proverbial individualism of Harvard men has in two instances led them to precede the Plan by several years. The three-year tenantry of rooms has been combined with the opportunity of going South to Mt. Auburn Street, leaving behind the monstrosity of Memorial Hall, the bulkiness of Widener and the noise and bustle of the Square. The House Plan, in at least two respects, has had its pioneers at Harvard.