Book Germs in Stillman

Stillman Infirmary's daily schedule of thermometers, three meals, and throat inspection was brightened last spring when Phillips Brooks House volunteers visited the corridors daily to answer patients' personal requests. Surprisingly, PBH had to stop these valuable visitations this fall at the request of Stillman's doctors.

When the volunteers offered to add reserve books from Lamont's Desk Three to the usual run of papers and personal articles, the doctors objected. "Life and Look are what patients should read," they claimed, "not library books. We don't want the students to worry about their studies, for Stillman is a place to relax." And so, after Lamont officials had agreed to release the books, PBH was forced to give up the service.

Now study undoubtedly creates a certain amount of tension, but hardly more than thinking about pages and pages of unread assignments. In any case, doctors' warnings about heavy reading do not prevent students from filling their suitcases with assigned books or asking their roommates to make the trek to Stillman. The Infirmary staff certainly can prevent very sick patients from reading without turning down the valuable service offered by PBH and requested by most patients. Brooks House and Stillman should arrange at once to resume the daily trips.