WHERE AND WHY NOT?

For a long time students have signed petitions; yearned vocally, or yearned silently for a Harvard swimming pool, and few will not agree with Mr. Moore that "something ought to be done about it." That something apparently lies with the Corporation and has lain dormant with the Corporation since last spring. When funds are available and plans have been drawn, it seems only reasonable that the University should receive some report.

Before sinking a large sum of money into a permanent plant, it is of course proper and necessary to consider the site for the plant. The main consideration in this case, as Mr. Moore has brought out, is accessibility. But it is hard to agree with him that Hemenway is in a central position and therefore the most likely place for a new pool. By citing the Linden Street squash courts as an example, Mr. Moore has made it plain that the center of accessibility is not north but south of Massachusetts Avenue. For it is highly probable that if the squash courts were in Hemenway, the number of players would be much decreased. Mr. Moore to the contrary, a swimming pool near the river, or across it would probably be more used than if it were placed anywhere else. Practically the whole of Harvard athletic life is centered on or beyond the Charles; and furthermore the majority of University students, both graduate and undergraduate, live south of Massachusetts Avenue or near Brattle Street.

A swimming pool would naturally be the adjunct of a gymnasium with its lockers and opportunity for exercise. There has been much agitation for a new gymnasium and evidence has not been lacking that such a project is being seriously considered by the Corporation and the Planning Board. Perhaps Hemenway is to become obsolete in favor of something "bigger and better" in a different location. In that case it would be foolish to build a pool connected with the present gymnasium. The Planning Board may have this contingency in mind; but certainly no inkling of what it or the Corporation are considering has leaked out. Granting that some four or five months is not sufficient for formulating definite plans, students might, yet expect to be given some explanation for the delay.