Masters Propose Greater Keycard Access in Houses

After years of lobbying, undergraduates may finally be granted 24-hour universal keycard access to a limited number of entryways in each of the upperclass Houses.

"I don't think there are strong arguments for doing it, but there's no strong argument against it, so why not make the students happy?" said Lowell House Master William H. Bossert.

Bossert and the other student, faculty and administrative members of the informal subcommittee on universal keycard access agreed yesterday on a proposal that they will present to the Committee on House Life (COHL) at next Tuesday's meeting.

The subcommittee will recommend granting all undergraduates 24-hour access to the main entries of each House. Access to Yard dormitories would continue to be limited to first-year students. "Those buildings are under the direction of Dean [of Freshmen Elizabeth S.] Nathans, and I don't think she's likely to open those buildings," Bossert said.

More specifically, 24-hour universal access would be extended only to doors that lead to public areas of the House.

Regarding Lowell House, for example, Bossert said that N entry, which opens only to the courtyard, would be a candidate for 24-hour universal access. Access to the individual entryways would remain restricted to House residents.

"It is crucial that we have two locked doors between students' room and the outside world," Bossert said.

Bossert, who until recently has been against extending universal keycard access, said that concern for students' security led to his change of heart.

"Students are making the argument for [extending access] in the name of security, and masters are making an argument against it in the name of security," he said.

In past discussion, some House masters have mentioned concerns that giving a greater number of students access to the Houses could threaten residents' security.

Undergraduate Council member Jobe G. Danganan made the opposing argument that entries with 24-hour universal access would be an important refuge for students who feel unsafe walking around the Houses after dark.

"Bossert hasn't exactly turned ing the possibilities than some people thought they'd be."

Language Changes

The language report takes aim at increasing overall undergraduate language proficiency and it outlines problems and possible solutions related to this goal.

The first suggestion was a simple increase in the test score required for exemption at matriculation. The current required score is a 600 on the SAT II.

The report says that eight percent of the class of 1998 would have lost their exemption with a 50-point increase in the required score.

The EPC also suggested that the grade required for satisfying a foreign language requirement could be increased from a D- to a C-.

The EPC also suggested that more foreign-language courses could be integrated into the Core Curriculum or that certificates could be given out to graduates who have completed upper-level language courses.

Another possibility for language reform would be to allow students to meet the Foreign Cultures requirement in the Core by taking four terms of a language at Harvard.

Overall Changes

The EPC's report on overall academic requirements had its beginning at the May 20 meeting of the Faculty. Concerns about overall academic requirements were voiced by both Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies Jay Harris and Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences Michael Hasselmo.

The EPC suggested reducing the number of required Core courses from eight to seven, limiting the number of courses required by certain concentrations (the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences leads with 20) and integrating language and Expository Writing requirements into other required courses.

"Some [of the possibilities] have a lot of merit, and some are based on a misunderstanding of what would be for the betterment of undergraduates," said Noah R. Freeman '99, an undergraduate member of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) who sat in on the Council meeting.

"It was all very initial, a sort of talk-about-what-we're-going-to-talk-about kind of thing," Freeman said. "The issues it explores are very interesting."

Freeman said he expects the reports to be incorporated into policy proposals by spring 1999 at the latest, and said he and the other student CUE members would do their best to have the issue put to a vote before the end of this school year.

Professor of Government and Sociology Theda Skocpol, a member of the faculty council, said that she believes some of the recommendations will become policy.

"This is all pretty fast," said Skocpol. "[Some of the proposals] will be implemented in due course. I just don't know when due course is.

Language Changes

The language report takes aim at increasing overall undergraduate language proficiency and it outlines problems and possible solutions related to this goal.

The first suggestion was a simple increase in the test score required for exemption at matriculation. The current required score is a 600 on the SAT II.

The report says that eight percent of the class of 1998 would have lost their exemption with a 50-point increase in the required score.

The EPC also suggested that the grade required for satisfying a foreign language requirement could be increased from a D- to a C-.

The EPC also suggested that more foreign-language courses could be integrated into the Core Curriculum or that certificates could be given out to graduates who have completed upper-level language courses.

Another possibility for language reform would be to allow students to meet the Foreign Cultures requirement in the Core by taking four terms of a language at Harvard.

Overall Changes

The EPC's report on overall academic requirements had its beginning at the May 20 meeting of the Faculty. Concerns about overall academic requirements were voiced by both Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies Jay Harris and Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences Michael Hasselmo.

The EPC suggested reducing the number of required Core courses from eight to seven, limiting the number of courses required by certain concentrations (the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences leads with 20) and integrating language and Expository Writing requirements into other required courses.

"Some [of the possibilities] have a lot of merit, and some are based on a misunderstanding of what would be for the betterment of undergraduates," said Noah R. Freeman '99, an undergraduate member of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) who sat in on the Council meeting.

"It was all very initial, a sort of talk-about-what-we're-going-to-talk-about kind of thing," Freeman said. "The issues it explores are very interesting."

Freeman said he expects the reports to be incorporated into policy proposals by spring 1999 at the latest, and said he and the other student CUE members would do their best to have the issue put to a vote before the end of this school year.

Professor of Government and Sociology Theda Skocpol, a member of the faculty council, said that she believes some of the recommendations will become policy.

"This is all pretty fast," said Skocpol. "[Some of the proposals] will be implemented in due course. I just don't know when due course is.