WIDENER'S HOURS

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The reasons Mr. Foster Palmer has offered for not extending Widener's hours do not strike me as overwhelmingly convincing. Let's consider just the point that "after all, Lamont and the Radcliffe Libraries are open till midnight." In the first place, I do not believe Radcliffe Library is open till midnight, but only till 11:00. The important point, though, is that Radcliffe Library--and I presume this is true to a lesser degree of Lamont--is a very small library, not at all equipped for any kind of specialized research. This means it is virtually worthless for a graduate student writing a thesis, and indeed for anyone who has to do much work in periodicals (this includes most graduate students). I would also imagine that the reading for a very large number of undergraduate theses and special projects would have to be done mostly in Widener. But it is for people doing this kind of work--which requires long spans of concentration--that it is especially painful to have to break off major operations at what is for most students today a quite early hour in the evening.

The tenor of Mr. Palmer's remarks suggests that Widener is not going to try something that it "fears would be extremely difficult" until a louder clamor is raised. I hope the HCUA will not relent in its efforts. Margaret Wilson 3G.