1617 Freshmen Register In Lowest Sex Ratio Ever

One thousand six hundred seventeen freshmen--concentrated in an over-crowded Yard and boasting the lowest male-female ratio in Harvard Radcliffe history--will descend upon Memorial Hall today to affirm their status as paid-in-full undergraduates.

Registration for the Class of 1981 will commence promptly at 9 a.m., as freshmen begin to enter Memorial Hall and run the gauntlet of computer cards and fast-talking, experienced hucksters, and it will end sometime after 4 p.m.

After filling out a few forms, the horde will be confronted with solicitations by every organization from the Republican Club to Hillel, from radio station WHRB to the newspaper in which this article appears.

This is the first year in which freshmen will live exclusively in the Yard. This weekend, the now upperclass-only Radcliffe Quadrangle was bereft of stationwagons containing freshmen's belongings.

But if the Quad was bereft of entering freshmen, the Yard was hopping with activity. Although the ratio of men to women remains out of balance--albeit at a better-than-ever 1.89:1--the ratio of frisbees to prospective registrants there yesterday seemed to approach 1:1.

After introductions to roommates in quarters more cramped than ever, many freshmen and their parents toured the campus, some pausing in the Freshman Union for refreshments and the opportunity to compare first impressions.

"We're gonna change the world, sort of," declared Mike Wimer '81. After a bit of reflection, and some suggested amendments to his statement by a group of freshmen standing nearby, Wimer added, "This is gonna be a partying class,