Easing Exercises

The freshman who holds a term-time job is painfully aware that study requirements, time devoted to his job, and three hours a week of physical training often add up to more than 24 hours a day. The Athletic Department, on the other hand, has long maintained that three hours of compulsory sports are necessary to maintain his physical fitness, lest he become prematurely weak and sick in the artificial atmosphere of Lamont Library.

In upholding its rule, however, the HAA has failed to realize that the Yardling who works nine hours a week has a dining hall or dormitory job to render him a physical wreck without the assistance of squash or ice skating. When three hour-long exercise sessions, plus the requisite walking, showering, and dressing, are added to his schedule, the burden becomes excessive.

In years past, when less than a hundred freshmen resorted to part time employment, this burden could be overlooked. But with employment facilities expanded, some 300 Yardlings would now be affected by a change in policy. This number alone is too large to ignore. Last Monday the Student Council, after extensive interviews with tired freshmen, recommended to the Undergraduate Athletic Council that if even one hour were dropped from a job-holder's P.T. requirement, his burden would be eased.

Although this suggestion would not be a tremendous time-saver, it would at least be a step in the right direction. Any freshman able to pass that other "step in the right direction"--the Step Test--would hardly suffer from the lack of exercise. The Athletic Council should in turn recommend to the Faculty for final approval a one hour per week reduction in the sports requirement for freshmen.