After more than three months of discussion over the use of the site, Harvard has decided that it would be too costly and too time-consuming to take the city to court over the City Council's June 5 decision to rezone the land. The zoning change cut the maximum floor area of new buildings there by 40,000 sq. ft.

Harvard's plans for the lot are currently unclear. The University originally planned to build a 200-room hotel on the site.

But those plans were reconsidered when members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences protested, saying the property should be used for a library or other academic purpose. Under the new zoning, both possibilities remain open.

Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence is expected to announce his recommendation for the site on Wednesday.

College Spends $1.5M On Yard Renovations

Years ago, students who could afford choice lodgings forsook Harvard dorms for the "Gold Coast" apartments of Cambridge--an option that first year students in recent years might have found attractive.

But after the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' $1.47 million dormitory renovation campaign this summer, the Class of 1993 may find the accommodations more to their liking.

Almost half of the Yard was closed during summer school to allow for the repairs and repainting, says Associate Dean for Physical Resources Philip J. Parsons. The interiors of 10 dorms and half of Weld Hall got a new coat, two buildings received new roofs, and several dorms gained fresh sets of furniture.

Now--according to the University's lingo--all the freshperson dorms qualify as newly renovated, with all rooms repainted in the last three years. And Parsons says all furniture will be replaced or restored by 1991.

More extensive changes--such as installing elevators in some dorms--will have to wait, says Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57. He adds that when space elsewhere opens up, the University might close a few Yard dorms during renovations.

Other repairs completed this summer included storm window and light fixture replacements and the addition of erasable message boards and mail baskets on suite entry doors.

Roofwork was also performed on some of the houses.

Grading, Content Of Ec 10 Changed

Students who have shied away from Ec 10 because, of its stiff grading scale and mathematical emphasis should take heart: the course heads have made a number of changes this year designed to bring the class more in line with student expectations.

The coursewide curve is being loosened to make it comparable with other Core classes, and professors have developed a new formula to lessen grade competition within individual sections, according to Assistant Professor of Economics Douglas W. Elmendorf, who teaches the class with Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein '61.