"Those are for groups that want space, butdon't have a real need for it seven days a week,"Hauber says. "It's like a cooperative livingarrangement."

Meanwhile, the three other buildings thatcompose the Perelman Quad will also host a varietyof other services, including a 24-hour studyatrium, 12 music practice rooms, a cafe, a recitalroom and two student activity suites.

"Because there are over 300 student groups atPenn, we really wanted space that all groups coulduse," Gresh says. "This [arrangement] should alsohelp groups to interact more with each other."

The Impossible Dream

Penn doesn't hold a monopoly over ideas on howto best build a student center. At Harvard,however, those ideas can be put onhold--indefinitely.

Epps says he has long realized that a studentcenter is the best permanent solution to the spaceproblem. His vision--College Hall-is outlined in areport prepared by Coordinator of StudentActivities Susan T. Cooke in April 1998. Thereport offers a number of solutions-one of thembeing a centrally located student center.

"The College Hall would house student offices,seminar rooms, lecture rooms, interview rooms,rehearsal rooms, a forum for formal debate, artstudios and a small museum dedicated to thehistory of the College," the report reads.

According to the report, College Hall wouldalso meet the demand for rooms for moviescreenings, performance group rehearsals and paneldiscussions. Recognizing that building a studentcenter is not an overnight project, the reportalso proposes more immediate solutions to theproblem. It recommends designating more areas inYard buildings to certain activities.

The report also mentions a "PublicationsCenter," which would have space for at least 20campus publications.

"Instead of storing past issues under a bed andzip disks in a drawer [and] running from dorm roomto Science Center to lay out a magazine, studentscould rely on such a Center to take cake of eachstep of the publication process," the reportreads.

Although Epps did not originally include commonsocial space in his vision, he says he could addthat to College Hall.

"It wasn't included originally, but I certainlythink it could be, since that's the thing studentsseem to need and want most," he said.

Living with Loker

With little administrative response though tothe College Hall plans, Harvard students are leftwith Loker Commons.

On a typical Friday night at Loker, a couple ofstudents sit in the darkened television roomwatching "The Simpsons." Two more are playingnine-ball at one of the pool tables. A few othershuddle in the restaurant-style booths, working oncover letters and problem sets. The coffeehouseand fast food counter closed a half an hourbefore. The e-mail terminals are unoccupied. TheLED light board goes unwatched.