Frattarola also says he sees the need for a social gathering place for freshmen. "We have nowhere to go with friends during the day. We need a student center for the same reasons the upperclassmen need JCR's. We're so disjointed, there's no unity among the class," he says.

Liz A. Koreman '90 also criticizes the lack of freshman unity. "We need more of a student's center. Every other school has a place where students can meet and pass the time; there's no place like that here. I don't know people who are three entries over. That's really bad." The one change Korman said she would like to see would be the addition of a late-night grill.

In Need of a Facelift

However much freshmen may criticize the Union, Burriss Young, associate dean of freshmen, says that it is a lot better now than it used to be. In the late 1970s the vestibule was completely redone, and some "really raunchy linoleum was taken up, and the nice stone floor uncovered." Young says that he would like to do more. "The Union is all the freshmen have for formal social space and we'd always like to have more money."

Young adds that he would like to make the Union a lot bigger and add more sound-proof practice rooms, more free space to accommodate the changing interests of freshmen, more quiet space and more eating space. But, lacking a magic wand and the necessary funds, Young does not see a way to accomplish these changes.

Responding to many calls for a grill, Young suggests that a Union snack bar would be fraught with difficulties. The Union would have to stay open later, and major renovation to the Union's plumbing would be necessary.

Robert W. Lyng, manager of Facilities Maintenance, says he thinks the Union deserves more money. "The operating budget last year was $225,000. This covered basic maintenance, utilities and cleaning. That's not a lot of money for a building that size, and is not nearly the kind of money that probably ought to be spent on it," he says.

According to Lyng, the Union is the second most heavily used building the University owns, the Science Center being first. With more that 6000 people a day passing through its doors, more money could easily be justified, he says.

The Union's game room and candy store are run by students through the Harvard Union Services Agency (HUSA), a division of HSA. According to HUSA manager Kathy E. Miller '89, neither of the ventures are particularly profitable. Miller says that any money HSA makes on the Union enterprises is re-invested in the Union.

"We recently re-covered the pool tables, and bought a new T.V. for downstairs," she says, referring to the T.V. room where HSA shows movies for free each Saturday night.

"But we're not happy with the Union the way it is," she continues. "We want to change it, make it a place that people will go out of their way to go to. HSA just doesn't have the money to do what is necessary."

Miller says she intends to make concrete proposals to the Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) in April, but realizes she will have to be conservative. "The FDO is constrained by the University's budgetary priorities, and the Houses are the University's priority [over the Union]," she said.

"Our plans will probably include air conditioners, carpets and new furniture for the T.V. room," Miller adds. "Our proposals might add up to two or three thousand dollars at best. We're not after the three million the University is using to clean the windows in Memorial Hall."

From Rags...to Rags?

The Union has had a colorful past, but its future does not look bright. Students are generally dissatisfied with it, and neither the FDO nor HSA seems capable of doing anything about it.