Curtailment a Poor Solution.

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

In view of the proposed abolition of winter sports, I should like to say a few words in behalf of the minor teams. Undergraduate opinion is almost unanimous in favor of maintaining the present system. If the position of the Faculty makes this impossible, the question confronts the Athletic Committee of making the compromise which will be most satisfactory to the University as a whole. They have submitted such a proposal. The question now arises: Is this the most satisfactory solution of the difficulty? Is it fair that the minor sports should bear the whole brunt of this curtailment? Hockey, basketball, and the other minor sports have always furnished exercise and recreation for a large number of men who are unable to take part in the major sports. The total number of men who take part in minor sports may not be as great as those who take part in major sports. But is that any reason for completely abolishing them? They are just as important to those who are interested in them, and form just as much an integral part of their college life as do the major sports, and their loss would be just as great to a large number of men. If curtailment there must be, which I do not for a moment grant, it seems to me radically unfair that the minor sports should be the only ones to suffer. It has always been urged against intercollegiate athletics that only a small number of men were able to participate. The proposed arrangement would increase, rather than diminish, this difficulty. We then come back to the original question: Is this the most satisfactory solution? Emphatically, No. 1909.