INSENSITIVITY OF 1-1-2

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Outrage, disgust--and to a greater extent, frustration--are this freshman's feelings towards the proposed 1-1-2 housing plan.

The current policy of isolating the freshmen in the Yard, or worse yet in the Union dorms, is socially and psychologically detrimental. The entrance into the mainstream of university life is postponed, and the whole process of the conversion of a high-school identity to a collegiate one is delayed. The male-female ratio of approximately 3:1 in the Yard, and the total absence of women in the Union dorms, makes freshman social life, at best, disheartening. Grouping of freshman in the Quad would add a sense of physical detachment to the existing social isolation, and further deter freshman assimilation.

Furthermore, the segregation of sophomores by academic fields is as ludicrous as grouping them by height--neither are indications of compatibility. Division on the grounds of concentrations would lead to additional social insulation, as students would primarily come in contact with others who were already known to them through classes. A situation such as this would also be intellectually stifling, as exposure to ideas outside the students' academic fields of interest would be limited.

The 1-1-2 plan is evidence of its creators' insensitivity to undergraduate life. Of the five housing alternatives, I find this plan the least rational, and I am hopeful it will be the first tossed aside. Andrew J. Silver '79