COMPULSORY CONTRIBUTION

There is yet another argument for a compulsory athletic levy on all Harvard undergraduates. Last Spring President Conant in his plan for putting the major sports on a self-supporting basis, stated that only 4% of the undergraduates used the facilities of lacrosse, fencing, golf, soccer, wrestling, boxing and cross-country. Unfortunately this figure was arrived at by counting the number of people on the Varsity, Junior Varsity and Freshman first teams of each sport, thus leaving out all those men who had initially tried out for a team or who later formed second, third and scrub teams which played on outside games. It also left out those who came down from the Houses and played informally.

The report stated that the upkeep of these sports cost the H.A.A. about $118 per person, whereas tennis, squash and swimming only cost about $18 per person. This argument was used as a reason for discontinuing the seven more expensive minor sports. But in counting the attendance and undergraduate participation in the latter sports, all those who played informally were included. Thus, every one who had signed for a squash court or tennis court was counted. It is estimated that if the seven affected minor, sports were revived about 15% of the student body would benefit.

If Harvard were to adopt the universal undergraduate athletic levy it would not be a new experiment, since Yale and Dartmouth have used it with success. At Dartmouth the plan works excellently, since over three-quarters of the students use the gymnasium and other athletic buildings. Because they are paying for them in any case, the students are more apt to take advantage of the buildings and thus derive benefit from physical activity.

The student who does not avail himself of the gymnasium or the athletic field is wasting his own money. Without learning to play one or two sports reasonably well a person's education is distinctly one-sided, and his enjoyment of later life will be impaired if he is unable to seek relaxation in some sort of competitive game. At Harvard the high $25 levy would be unnecessary, but ten dollars per person would more than pay for the seven minor sports, if the H.A.A. were permitted to carry out the plan.