Yardlings returning from the Christmas holidays last weekend found vehicle and pedestrian gates to their precincts standing open, and were surprised to see them remain so after 7 o'clock, when many of the portals are usually locked.

The gates are being kept open as a precautionary measure, Alvin R. Randall director of the University police force said yesterday. In the event of a heavy snow followed by a freeze, the gates, if closed, would be immobilized, prohibiting deliveries and causing delay.

Another officer of the University police force cited fire within the Yard as an emergency which requires full freedom of traffic Should the gates be frozen together during such a time fire apparatus could not enter the Yard, and students would be hindered in leaving.

Operators of cars and trucks with business in the Yard hailed the annual winter custom as a great time saver. Previously having to leave their driver's seats four times to open and close the three massive vehicle gates. Whenever they come to the Yard, laundry men, mail drivers and car owning Yardlings can now enter or leave without a half.

The open gates are also proving a boom to night-prowling Yard residents who no longer need to trains as far as three block along Massachusetts Avenue to return to their beds after finding the entrances through Wiggleworth Hall tightly locked.