New Hall Too Small

Annenberg Hall, the new first-year dining area in Memorial Hall, is scheduled to open next semester when the Freshman Union shuts down. Although Annenberg Hall is new, it does not improve upon the present Freshman Union. In fact, due to poor planning. Annenberg Hall does not even preserve the qualities that made the Union distinct.

While the Union could seat 700 to 750 students, Annenberg Hall can only seat 617 students. Because of its smaller capacity, Annenberg will initially be closed to all but first-years. Upperclass students from distant houses will have to find another dining hall for lunch. Although this restriction inconveniences many upperclass students, it still does not solve the overcrowding problem. Dean of Freshmen Elizabeth S. Nathans told the Crimson that Annenberg Hall "couldn't even accommodate freshmenspilling out of Sanders [Theatre] and Science Center B at this point."

The crowding is being considered by members of executive and advisory committees on Memorial Hall. However, the members were announced only last Wednesday. Even if the issue is addressed now, not much can be done with the facility near completion. Maybe if student input had been sought at the early planning stages, the overcrowding problems would have been addressed in time to solve it inexpensively. Nathans, however, is not blameless in this matter, for as the Dean of Freshmen, she should have made an effort to determine how large the hall would be before it was built.

Because of its smaller size, Annenberg will no longer be able to hold large first-year events such as the concentration fair. Annenberg Hall can never bring all the first-years together as the Union once did--simply because they wouldn't fit. Yard common rooms have been refurbished to give first-years meeting locations, but first-years, separated into their many dorms, will no longer have one central location to gather. Annenberg Hall has broken any cohesiveness the Union engendered in the first year class. Dean Nathans wrote that "without destroying the essential character of the space, the renovation could not provide for the flexible dining and mealtime meeting areas we have enjoyed in the Union. We have understand that this would be the case." A new dining hall without any of the conveniences of the old Union was sanctioned and students' convenience was sacrificed for the sake of tradition and "character." Instead, the University should have foreseen that the reduced area would be a problem and addressed it as such. Although Dean Flatley has proposed augmenting the shuttle bus schedule to the Quad during lunch hours, we must all wonder about the repercussions of no inter-house in the Union. Will additional overflow from distant houses force interhouse restrictions in traditionally welcoming houses such as Leverett and Winthrop?

Tradition could have been integrated with students' convenience with proper planning. If all these issues had been addressed last year, committees would not now be needed to solve the many problems. The decreased seating capacity must have been averted altogether. No matter how impressive or dinstinctive, a dining hall is not very useful if students can't eat in it. The size problem of Annenberg Hall should have been solved long ago.