"It's always a possibility if someone is foundwho wants to put their name on it and build it,"he says.

Still, a number of masters say that were theCollege to build a new House, it would onlymotivate the College to admit a greater number ofstudents. Eliot House Master Stephen A. Mitchellsays he suspects the College would be motivated tobuild an additional House for economic reasonsrather than as a means of addressing quality oflife issues.

Another House simply means more rooms for morestudents.

"It's a bit like the Paris metro," says MatherHouse Co-Master Leigh G. Hafrey '73. "The morecars you add, the more people ride," he quips.

But Hanson, who has been pressing for a seriousstudy of the issue of overcrowding for the lastthree years, says he thinks alumni will be morelikely to donate for structural enhancementswithin the Houses. A capital campaign for theHouses would give him the funding necessary to addtwo wings to Winthrop House, increasing the sizeof both student accommodations and common areas.

"I think that you'd find a real response on thepart of the alumni," he says. "I think you couldraise a lot of money."

Hanson is not the only master with dreams ofexpansion. According to McCarthy, PforzheimerHouse could create space by connecting some of theHouse's buildings.

"You could find ways to add gracefully...tomany of the Houses," McCarthy says.

With relatively little space to expand thewalls of Kirkland House, Master Donald K. Pfistersays he has worked to find places in the Housethat can be turned into usable space.

From developing the basement to "whittling offcorners" here and there, he says they have beenable to gain some square footage. In addition, hestresses the importance of keeping the House "realestate" active, by employing better scheduling ofHouse common rooms and holding seminars in theprivate dining room.

"We've pushed at all of the boundaries andwe've tried to be very efficient," Pfister says.

Lewis says the College has no plans on thetable for a 13th House or an expansion to theHouses in the near future. To deal with whatmasters perceive as an over-crowding problem, hesays will necessitate ingenuity.

As an example, Lewis suggests that perhaps theCollege should look into changing the way housingassignments are made to overflow space likeDeWolfe. Given the superior level of housing thatDeWolfe rooms offer--with everything from cabletelevision to full kitchens--Lewis says it wouldnot be difficult to find people who would activelylike to be assigned there.

"Maybe there's a way to increase the originallevel of happiness by trying to identify apopulation that would actually like that space,"he says.

A Cramped Community