Leahy anticipates greater saving across campus next winter following the installation of 4000 more valves. In addition to continued work in residential buildings, the academic structures--particularly the Science Center, William James Hall, the new biochem labs, the biology labs and chemistry labs, which together consume 70 per cent of the energy used by the College--will also receive attention. In the Science Center and William James, efforts will include alterations in ventilation systems which circulate more air than necessary. In the labs, fume hoods--which are "intensely energy wasteful," according to Leahy--will be altered to become more economical. A myriad of additional renovations to these buildings and others aim at meeting Dean Rosovsky's target of a 50-per-cent reduction in fuel consumption within five years, Leahy says. If realized, the energy savings will free up lots of money for repairs and maintainance, officials anticipate.

While Leahy searches for energy reductions and Coburn and Gerrity scramble for viable repair plans, more extensive work is taking place across the Charles. This Monday, the Business School will begin several major renovation programs. Most notable is what Paul H. Lapointe, assistant dean of the B-School, calls a "complete renovation and mechanical overhaul" of Chase Hall, a B-School dorm, at a cost of $5.6 million--almost half of what is set aside for the entire undergraduate House system from the Harvard Campaign. The changes in Chase follow previous alteration projects in McCulloch Hall in 1978 ($3.5 million) and Mellon Hall in 1976 ($4 million). In sharp contrast to the hosing and money shortages felt by the College, the B-School will be reducing the number of beds in Chase from 155 to 127, filling the newly-made space with a private bath for each room.

Citing "plumbing which is 50 years old" and a design which allows radiators in only one room of two-room suites, Lapointe's call for change echoes those heard throughout the House system. Except the B-School has the money to improve housing and more. As the changes in Chase take place, improvements of classrooms and bathrooms--what Lapointe calls a general "redecorating and refurbishing"--will occur in the final stage of a $2 million project in Aldrich Hall. "We want to really dress then up so they'll endure another 40 or 50 years," Lapointe says.

Many College officials believe that the B-School's effective, lucrative use of its facilities during the summer--executive education programs and the like--help pay for the renovations. But west of the B-School, across North Harvard St., is another instance of development far different from the stagnation felt in recent years at the College. While the College has scrambled to save a buck, the athletic department has vigorously updated facilities--which, according to John P. Reardon '60, director of athletics, were dubbed the second worst in the East some years ago. Their method has been simple: an outpouring of cash. Prior to the capital fund drive (from which the department stands to gain an additional $10 million), the athletic department held its own drive in connection with the development office. The fruits of their efforts; a renovated Bright Hockey Center ($2.9 million); Blodgett Pool ($4 million) and the Indoor Track and Tennis Building ($4 million). Now in the works is the reconstruction of Briggs Cage, which will include two basketball courts and a first-of-its-kind astro-turf rug which Reardon says will "float out" of its nine-foot deep pit supported by air.

Meanwhile, the House system sits, ages and waits. Waits for the findings of Steffen and Fogarty. Waits for the initiatives of Coburn and Fox. And waits for money. No one knows for sure what advice will come from the study which "did everything but take Winthrop apart brick from brick," according to Davis, or what new repair work energy-slashing measures and $12 million will allow. But Dr. Warren E. C. Wacker, master of South House and Oliver Professor of Hygiene, sees the new study presenting "both a challenge and an opportunity to upgrade the place, to make it more liveable and economical in the long run," Wacker adds.

The narrow line between deterioration and danger and the tenuous link connecting history and simply old age are best seen as the House system celebrates its golden anniversary. "We're beyond the era of gentlemen needing suites and stables for their horses," Davis says. "There's no need to return to that era of housing. But at some point the run-down quality becomes a real problem."