ROOM RENTS

During the past week the University has given concrete rebuttal to the charge that it views with indifference the effect of the depression on the undergraduate exchequer. A large body moves slowly, but in this case it has moved with gratifying results. Last week a new scale of food prices in the Houses was made known. In today's CRIMSON a plan to create additional positions in the University for undergraduates, as an alternative to student waiting in the Houses, is announced. These innovations will be of material benefit to the undergraduate body, and there is no doubt that they will be generally welcomed.

In the past the CRIMSON has requested student waiting in the Houses, in the belief that financial emergencies justified such a measure, and because no alternative presented itself. There is no doubt, however, that the present plan, if it provides for as many students as would otherwise be employed as waiters, is far preferable. It will give to those who need it, work which will be generally preferable to waiting on table, without jeopardizing the function of the Houses. No one will ask from what mysterious source the money was procured, provided the potential benefits of the plan are realized next year.

But these improvements, though welcome, will not in themselves be sufficient to dispose of the financial problem. The most onerous burden, that of excessive rent in the Houses, remains. Doubling up on single suites, and the creation of an House Aid fund, has in some cases partially lessened the cost. But it is at best a paradoxical procedure, first to elevate the cost of rooms beyond the average student's means, and then attempt to relieve the burden by a kind of dole. In doing so, the University implicitly admits the contention that the price of rooms is too high.

It is known that a report on the subject of House Rents has been drawn up by the Student Council, and placed in the hands of the Corporation. There is no doubt that it will give confirmation, if confirmation be needed, to the feeling that rents are excessive, and reveal an unbridgable gap between the present scale of prices and the post-depression pocketbook. No practicable juggling of suites, and no House Aid, will by themselves be adequate to the situation. A general scaling-down of prices, insofar as that is consonant with the financial obligations of the University itself, is clearly necessary. The Student Council's report should provide an excellent opportunity for re-adjustment and there is every reason to hope that the University will take definite action to that end during the summer.