By renting the houses at market value, Harvard could tighten its finances just as it could by selling the houses at market value. Disposing of the properties, however, would solve the real estate problem. "I suppose it is a bother for the University to be a landlord," Peterson said.

Conversations with Peterson and others revealed how important they believe nearby housing is to the future of the University.

"Ten times as many students came to my house as to an equivalent professor living in Belmont," said Kenneth O. Dike, professor of History, a former tenant of 138 Irving St.

"It will be a tragedy for this place in 20 years if everyone [professors and administrators] lives in Weston," Peterson said. "I want the University to work as hard as possible to keep places for faculty near the University, even if it means a fight with City Hall on occasion."

In a letter to the Rent Control Board last November, Henry H. Cutler, the University's director of Real Estate, listed 23 single-family houses and one apartment complex used by faculty and administrative officers.

The houses in his list are not subject to rent control under city regulations, which exempt rental units in a "public institution or college or school dormitory operated exclusively for charitable or educational purposes.

Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University, said last week that he interprets the regulations as exempting "housing reserved for the use of University personnel."

He said that the leases signed with faculty tenants stipulate that they may remain in their houses only as long as they are affiliated with the University.

Low Rents

Since the houses are exempt, the Rent Control Board has no information on rent levels. But Steiner, assessing the rents paid by faculty tenants to the University, said he has the impression "a lot are below what one could get under rent control."

William A. Burnham Jr., property manager for the Cambridge office of Hunneman and Company, Inc., real estate agents for the University, made a more emphatic, though possibly exaggerated, statement about Harvard rents. "In 99 per cent of the faculty houses, Harvard does not make enough in their rent even to pay real estate taxes," Burnham said. "I know that for a fact."

Administration officials said the low rents have attracted many faculty and administrators to Harvard, particularly in recent years. Peterson said that one house, located at 65 Francis Ave., was used by the University as a "roosting spot" for new faculty members until they became familiar with Cambridge.

Peterson lived in the house for one year, and John Munro, former dean of the College, occupied the house during his term. The home became a "roosting spot," Peterson said, after Fred L. Glimp '50, Munro's successor, decided not to live in Cambridge.

Lee Rainwater, professor of Sociology, rented the house for one year after Peterson moved out, and was followed by the present tenant, Daniel Bell. Bell has lived at 65 Francis Ave. for the last three years.

Peterson said that the availability of housing close to the Harvard campus influenced his decision to come to the University. He said that the scale "may have been tipped toward inertia" had no house been available, and that he might have continued teaching in Utah.