Ford Guarantees '68 Same House Selection System

The present system by which freshmen are assigned to the Houses will not be changed this year, Dean Ford said yesterday.

He left open the possibility that the present method of selection would be altered next year, noting that the Committee on Houses had discussed the problem at length and that there was presently "some talk going on within the Administration."

Ford said last month that he was anxious to hear student opinion on the present system and said that he had received quite a few letters from undergraduates. The letters were unanimous in urging a method which permitted application with roommates, Ford noted. "There is no thought of destroying that provision," he said.

Last spring, a special committee, chaired by J. Peterson Elder, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, recommended to the Committee on Houses the adoption of a system which substantially reduced the role of the Masters in the selection.

The Masters have long been known to be unhappy with the paper work and time demanded by the present method of selection. Many are known to feel that many other factors are more important in determining the character of a House than the selective system.

The Committee on Houses finally rejected the Elder committee proposal because of the strong opposition of two Masters. During its study of the selection procedure, the Elder committee asked the Computation Laboratory to devise a method by which freshmen could be assigned to the Houses by a computer.