Uniform Rents Produce Student Room Juggling

An unprecedented number of upperclassmen will move to different rooms within their Houses next year as a result of the new uniform room rent policy.

Charles H. Taylor, Master of Kirkland House, said the Masters were "shocked" at the number of moves. At least 50 per cent of the occupants of each House will move to new quarters next fall, and in most Houses more than 60 per cent will do so. Over 79 per cent of the students of Leverett House and over three-quarters of those in Lowell have decided to move to new rooms next semester.

Arthur D. Trottenberg, assistant dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for Resources and Planning, said last night he had "expected the number of shifts to be slightly less." But, he had anticipated "as part of the single room rent policy that there would be moving about at first. My own feeling is that it should slow down--but that's just a hunch."

Although Leverett House topped the Houses with the most moves, Richard T. Gill '48, Master of Leverett House, said the figures did not represent any great difference from the past. While the uniform room rent policy did increase the number of moves, he said. Leverett "always has quite a bit of shifting from McKinlock to the Towers--quite independently of changes in rent policy."

Stewart "Surprised"

On the other hand, Zeph Stewart, Master of Lowell House, was "quite surprised" his House had the second highest number of moves. He attributed Lowell's showing to the amount of shifting of rooms he had done "in an attempt to make the suites more comparable."

Stewart anticipated there wouldn't be as much moving next year. "In a year, there won't be any problem at all," he said.

Following is a breakdown by House of the number of upperclassmen planning to stay in their present rooms and the number moving to new suites.

House  Staying  MovingLeverett  61  230Lowell  71  220Dunster  77  143Winthrop  79  152Kirkland  79  157Quincy  100  183Eliot  135  144Adams  115  12