Interlopers

ROTC units enjoy the position they hold at the College only to train undergraduates as competent officers in the armed forces. The College adequately provides for the rest of the Undergraduate's education both in the classroom and on the playing field. But now the Army, the Navvy and the Air Corps units have organized basketball teams to play against the Houses and have entered an area where they do not belong.

In all its recent policy the Administration has tried to strengthen the Houses as centers of undergraduate activity. ROTC teams are only working at cross purposes with this policy by drawing their athletes from the Houses "A" and "B" basketball leagues. The army squad even offers a subsidy of sorts by giving its athletes participation credits; unfortunately, the Houses are in no position to construct comparable lures.

Fifty percent of '55 now belong to one of the three military units, and if the threat of war remains this percentage will probably grow. It is therefore important to define completely the sphere in which the ROTC should operate. And this definition should include the fact that the ROTC has no business intruding into any of the activities now handled by the College.