Room Rent Issue Causes Dispute

Arthur D. Trottenberg '48, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said yesterday that "standardized room rents would provide House Masters with the utmost flexibility" in matching roommates without regard to ability to pay. But he questioned the fairness of "charging as much for a fifth floor attic in Dunster as for a glorious third-floor suite in Quincy or Leverett."

At the same time, Trottenberg attacked as "utterly meaningless" a Winthrop House proposal that the University consider combining room, board and tuition charges into one sum which could not be raised more than once every four years.

While refusing to commit himself on standardized rents, Trottenberg held that they could lead to a reduction in low-income applications for admission to the college. As it is now, prospective applicants have a spectrum of rents to choose from. If they cannot pay high rents, Trottenberg said, they are encouraged to apply by the availability of low ones.

Trottenberg stressed the "psychological effects" of the present choice of rents. He said standardization would mean a flat rate of about $500 a year, and that 50 per cent of all applicants would have trouble paying it.

Some system of priorities for rooms would be necessary under a uniform rent system, Trottenberg said. A system like Yale's--seniors getting first crack at desirable rooms--would cause "the biggest youth migration since the Children's Crusade," he asserted.

Attacking the Winthrop proposal for a single room, board, and tuition charge, Trottenberg said, "The logic of that completely escapes me."

"The trouble with the undergraduate approach to this problem," he continued, "is that they see everything in terms of black and white. If we took a few administrative steps, they think, all would be solved and life would be rosy. We've cut just about everything we can from dorm costs; we've hit the bottom of the barrel."

"I'm not cheerful," Trottenberg concluded.