REPORT DUE ON SELF-SERVICE PLAN IN HOUSE DINING-HALLS

Preliminary reports discussing the advisability of introducing self-service into the House dining halls next year will be made this week by the chairmen of the two committees which are now in the process of investigating board rates.

The self-service plan, which would mean the same type of meal and of choice as the present plan, would save each student one nickle a meal or $40 a year.

The Student Council will hear a report from Seth C. Crocker '41, chairman of the Food Committee, at its biweekly meeting tomorrow night and at their next meeting the Masters will learn what their sub-Committee has done from Gerald F. Else '29, head tutor of Winthrop House.

The main line of both committees' investigations has been into self-service and how it would affect the dining hall and the rate situations. An enforced single rate for 21 meals at a price reduction from the present $10 has also been seriously considered.

The Annapolis-West Point style of eating "on masse" does not seem to be suited to the needs of Harvard despite the fact that it would probably save a great deal of money. Student waiting, it has been decided, would not save money, will not be necessary thanks to N.Y.A., and it is not a desirable solution of the problem.

It is estimated that self-service, with each student picking up his own food on a tray and carrying it back to a table of the present size, would save about one dollar a week and reduce the present rates to $9.00, $7.75, and $7.00. This would mean that the board bill for each year would be reduced nearly $40 for the 21 meals a week man. On the other hand it means that a student pays only a nickel a meal for the privilege of being waited on.

The necessity of maintaining a full kitchen force of the same size as that used now as well as the need for hiring more busboys to clear away used dishes would keep costs up and prevent the rate from dropping more than a dollar.

Another expense would be the construction of steam table units in the House dining rooms to serve as service counters at which the students would pick up their food. It might be possible to use the present kitchen counters for that purpose and to route the lines of students through one door in the kitchen, past the counter, and out the other door.

The compulsory 21-meal rate was voted on in a Student Council poll last year and about 51% of the students polled declared themselves in favor of it. It also would mean reductions of about a dollar a week on the $10 rate. It would mean the abolition of the 14 meal rate and the 10 meal rate.

A combination of the compulsory 21 meal rate and the self-service plan which would cut the price of meals to a flat $8.00 is being considered as a possibility.