Commemorate King

AFTER 15 YEARS of off-and-on deliberation, the House of Representatives passed a bill in August to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure soon and aides to President Reagan hint he might back the proposal if it reaches his desk. But whatever happens to the holiday in Washington, Harvard this year should take a unilateral step of its own, declaring the third Monday in January a University holiday.

Harvard now considers King's birthday an afternoon half-holiday; falling during finals, it usually passes unnoticed. A full-day holiday would replace this half-hearted gesture with a wholehearted reaffirmation of the fundamental human rights King stood for.