Ether or Else

The forty thousand dollar athletic budget cut will begin by showing itself in little ways. Tom Bolles at the boathouse is losing his telephone, and now he and the other coaches will have to run downstairs to answer the one of the ground floor. The launches are losing their rich shade of Harvard red and changing to a neutral and economical white. The football team will use its old uniforms next fall, instead of handling them down to the J.V.'s, who usually hand them down to the Freshmen the following year, who hand them down to the House teams, who throw them away. As the leaves begin to fall and the air becomes crisp, the House teams will charge into their plays with elbows protruding from their sleeves, and shoes fit only for the ash barrel.

The Junior Varsity footballers will play only four games, all of these at home. The Indoor Athletic Building will not resound with the shouts of Sophomore remains on the squad. Even the little cut until only one Sophomore remains on the squad. Even the little ski team, which this year was to have stopped paying six dollars per man for the privilege of skiing for the University, will continue forking out, perhaps paying even more, while its coach will continue unsalaried. The swimmers' suits can hardly be reduced, though fewer of their wearers will go on trips.

Three years ago a big oil company offered $37,500 for three minutes of advertising, one minute at the game's beginning, one at the half, and one at the end. The little sports are stacked up against three minutes of gasoline. But gasoline is surely no more "commercial" than the present high tariff on hot dogs and peanuts, program advertising, and tickets at three-thirty a shot.