Cuts in Summer Storage Space Less Severe Than Predicted

Summer storage privileges will not be curtailed as severely as some administrators had predicated last month. College officials said yesterday.

Although some restrictions on the traditional policy of providing unlimited storage will still be made this year, the College will provide more space for items than initially estimated, said Thomas A. Dingman '67, assistant dean for housing.

Student Report Helped

The improved storage outlook-which the College will announce in detail next week is apparently the result of suggestions for new storage spaces made by the Undergraduate Council and submitted to College officials two weeks ago.

The council report was the first major research effort by the new student government. Their work came in response to official announcements that storage space would have to be cut because of ongoing House renovations and increasing use of the Houses by the summer school.

Experiments

Officials said the amount of storage space could be expanded by "experimenting" with areas in the Houses and freshman dorms not previously used to store student belongings. But administrators refused to detail the new spaces under consideration.

The report submitted by the council had suggested using areas such as a basement in Quincy House and several Mather House common rooms.

Dingman said, however, that shortages may still force some students to find alternative storage space. Students will probably be forced to store belongings during a shorter time period this year than in the past, he added.

The assistant dean emphasized that many details of the evolving storage policy have yet to be completed, including final determinations of available space and how it is to be allocated. A finished proposal will be released Monday at a meeting of the student-faculty Committee on Housing, he said.

Officials generally praised the council's research, saying that the College had not previously considered many of the proposed storage spaces contained in the report.

The Real World

"We're trying very hard to make on-campus storage a reality." Martha C. Gefter, associate dean of the College, said yesterday.

Dean of the College John B. Fox Jr. '59 recently said that the report was the most serious piece of student research on a College issue that he had seen since 1967.

The author of the report, council member Gregory S. Lyss '85, said yesterday that while the logistical aspects of storage might be more difficult this year than in the past, the College's acceptance of some of the council's suggestions represented a significant accomplishment.

"It's my view that less convenient timescheduling is a lot more convenient than commercial storage in Waltham," Lyss said. "If a student doesn't agree with me, he's certainly welcome to store his stuff there."