And a little rain is not the only thing designers and students must worry about.

Occasionally, the design of the building itself adds to the problems with air flow. The long corridor of shops on the first floor of Holyoke Center can act as a wind tunnel, according to Harvard Real Estate officials.

And William James can, says Gallant, act like a "chimney."

"If the weather is right, the front doors can be blown open or held shut by the wind. We had to install heavy-duty door closers and safety chains," he said. "It's important to try to ensure the balance of air between the inside and the outside is maintained."

The drafts compound another problem for the administration: energy efficiency. Most of the newer buildings were built in an era of cheap energy, with an emphasis on open space and glass. This `modern' style, however, is now proving to be a headache in terms of conserving energy.

The Science Center, which opened just as the first energy crunch hit, has been trying to improve energy efficiency for its entire operating life, says Nona D. Strauss, director of the Science Center.

"We've turned off the reheating coils in the air conditioning system," she said. "Our system doesn't remove humidity as much as it did before...All classroom [lights] are on motion sensors."

Strauss said the building is also being recaulked to reduce energy loss, and that she hopes to address the leaks in the building soon. "We've had all the problems that a 20-year-old pre-cast concrete building has," she said.

Still, these 20-plus year old pre-cast concrete buildings do have their advantages, according to those who deal with them daily.

For instance, energy-inefficient open space provides more room to move than the smaller rooms of most of the older Harvard buildings. The Mather tower may be "large, harsh and fundamental," according to Architectural History, but it also provides its residents with single rooms, a privilege denied to many undergraduates until senior year.

And while Currier's design may not be what first-years envision as their ideal, its numerous singles and airy floor plan encourage socializing, according to its masters. "It's easier to zip around if you don't have to worry about going outside," says William Graham. "The living arrangement here is really quite nice for bringing people together...The combination of general personal space and a lot of public space seems to work well."

In fact, all of the undergraduate housing built between 1958 and 1970--Currier House, Leverett Towers, New Quincy and Mather House--has hallways, instead of the entryways of the older houses. The open space and lighting found at the Science Center also makes it a popular studying place.

And many of the newer buildings are more accessible to the disabled. The elevators necessary for high-rise buildings, as well as ramps often included in the original design, provide more freedom of movement than the numerous staircases of older buildings.

"If you can get up the ramps at the first floor, you can get anywhere in the house," says Associate Director for Administration and Programs in the Harvard University Library Barbara S. Graham, Currier House co-master.

Of course, the elevators also spend a great deal of time carrying able-bodied students, staff and administrators who prefer riding up to walking up--for many, one of the more agreeable features of the modern additions.