A more flexible, variable meal plan would also entail certain coasts for the House system. By allowing any one group to opt out of a substantial number of meals, the overall function for which the Houses were first established--that of bringing together a group of students and tutors for frequent educational and social contacts--would undoubtedly be undermined. At present, most students meet other people in their House primarily by eating with them. If more students eat off-campus, a certain degree of House community and closeness would necessarily be sacrificed.
The Food Services Subcommittee is not prepared to make a final recommendation on this matter until the subject is discussed before the full CHUL.
Would you favor the reopening of a Writing Center for all undergraduates?
Yes
At present, Harvard has no facilities for dealing with the writing problems of undergraduates. Freshmen may obtain help from their Expos preceptors, and all students can get psychological counselling and friendly advice from Room 13, the Bureau of Study Counsel, and UHS psychologists; however, there is no place for students to get advice specifically about their writing--about style, grammar, technical methods to snap out of writer's block, or help with a specific paper. Counselors at the above organizations and many students have expressed the desire for a service similar to the Hilles Writing Center that was shut down at the end of the 1977-78 academic year. The Center provided free, unpressured, one-to-one counselling to all interested students.
No
A Writing Center costs a great deal of money. The budget for the Hilles Center last year was ca. $25,000, most of it salaries. Expos Director Richard Marius, who closed the Center, estimated that it provided only 800 student-hours a piece. He felt that a $31.25 per student-hour, the service was more than Harvard could afford. Since freshmen presumably need the most help on their writing, Marius has proposed the reopening of a very different center next year; regular Expos teachers will spend one hour per week, without additional pay, working probably in the basement of the Union.
Do you believe that the University should provide toilet paper to everyone in the College [at present upperclassmen in the River Houses are not supplied it]? What if it resulted in a $2 to $4 increase in each student's term bill?
Yes
Because Harvard purchases in large amounts, it would be able to buy toilet paper at wholesale prices or even less, while individual students must pay inflated Cambridge retail prices. Thus your two dollars buys more when you give it to the University to spend for you. Also, a $2-$4 increase in term bill will lose significance in the face of the seemingly inevitable $500 increases which roll along every year. Additionally, it is much more convenient to procure toilet paper from a House store-room than to have to run to a distant supermarket when one is in need. In the sake of equality, all students should receive the same services for the same fee.
No
Only in communal bathrooms where no one takes responsibility for restocking should toilet paper be freely distributed, and because of distribution problems the entire Yard should be included. Extension of service to the River Houses would cost $12,000-$19,000, or $2-$4 per student which would cost even those students already receiving free t.p. Also, students probably get better quality paper than Harvard buys.