Council Advocates Compulsory Athletic Fee for Upperclassmen

Adoption of a compulsory athletic fee and reorganization of the intra-mural program form chief tenets of a report on Harvard athletics approved by the Student Council Wednesday evening.

Members of the committee, which based its recommendations on a questionnaire answered by members of the Houses and Dudley Hall, were Thomas W. Stephenson '37, chairman, Perry J. Culver '37, Charles W. Kessler '37, Rolf Kaltenborn '37, and Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. '38.

Two Parts

The report comprises two parts. The first is an investigation of Harvard athletics with special emphasis on House angles, and the second a summary of the intra-mural situation at Yale.

Part one consists of a number of recommendations. First pertains directly to House athletics where the committee, "appalled at the comparatively small number of men competing", urges "adoption of some aspects of the Yale system and the reversion of administration to the Harvard Athletic Association."

Rink on Soldiers Field

Recommendation number two is for a Hockey rink to be built on Soldiers Field. Figuring that gate receipts would pay for upkeep once the original costs were footed, the committee calls the advantages of such a rink obvious. It would allow longer and easier practices for the college teams. It would allow a full program of intra-mural hockey; it would provide for indoor track meets and would be used to house the increasing crowds that are coming to Cambridge to watch basketball."

Recommendation number three is for the $10 athletic fee, to apply to all upperclassmen except commuters and those physically incapacitated. The questionnaire showed 532 men favoring such a fee, while the committee's action is "based on the belief that all undergraduates should exercise if possible. All men have to pay an infirmary fee, and we believe that more exercising would cut down the numbers requiring medical assistance". The $10 would form a just added support for the H.A.A.

Point four is for a committee to welcome visiting teams in the interest of better hospitality. Point five asks inter-hall organization of Freshman sports. Point six, retention of Junior Varsity team, while seven commends the endowment policy of President Conant as "offering a permanent solution of athletic ills.