To the editors:

The recent letter by Jason L. Lurie ’05 (“Getting Quadded is not the Worst Thing That Can Happen,” April 5) could not have been more poorly written had it been written by someone who had never actually been to Dunster before.

He writes that “the inside of the house is reminiscent of a seedy roach motel.” He has obviously never been to our dining hall or Junior Common Room, which are lovely rooms and are at least as good as those of any other house.nOur entryways are quite nice inside. Those first-years who like the community of entryways more than hallways will be happy that they were not sorted into, say, Cabot. Dunster’s other facilities are actually top-of-the-line. Lost in the news of Quincy’s cardio room renovation, for instance, was that the renovations basically brought it up to the standards of Dunster’s cardio room.

With respect to our “barred” windows, Lurie really should do his homework. Only the first floor of one entryway has barred windows and very few of our windows actually face Mather. I, for instance, am writing this letter while looking out of my window onto a beautiful view of the Charles River and Week’s footbridge. I invite any first-years to check out this view, because it takes my breath away. In fact, I invite Lurie to share this view whenever he would like. It’s probably been a long time since he saw the Charles. Were he in another river house, he might even have the benefit of seeing Dunster’s beautiful red dome.

The best feature of Dunster House is probably its sense of community. I defy any house to find Co-Masters and tutors more committed to enriching undergraduate life. Moreover, we are very proud to be in Dunster. Anyone who was at the freshman welcome can tell you that Dunster was front and center, whereas Cabot was, well, just sort of there.

As far as Dunster’s hygiene goes, I am throwing down the gauntlet. I personally challenge Lurie to a hygiene contest. I am quite confident in my chances of winning this, since I clearly beat Lurie in another endeavor: the first-year housing lottery of 2002.

MICHAEL L. STEWART ’05

April 7, 2004

The writer is a resident of Dunster House.