A NEW GYMNASIUM NEEDED.

The University track team, already weakened by the loss of good material by graduation and probation, is now struggling along with but little support owing to the miserable facilities of our antiquated Gymnasium. It is all very well to revile the undergraduates for not going out early for the team, but anyone who has examined the place where they have to dress for practice cannot blame them very much for their apparent indifference. The locker rooms are dark, unsanitary and improperly ventilated; the lockers themselves are minute and crowded together without regard to the comfort or health of their users. No wonder candidates for the team prefer to wait for warmer weather when they can use the Locker Building on Soldiers Field, quite palatial in comparison to the Gymnasium.

The track team is not the only sufferer from these inadequate arrangements. The basketball team has a smaller number of candidates than in other universities and a poorer floor to play on, the gymnastic team is handicapped to a great extent, and the swimming team has no University tank to practice in. Aside from these regular athletic organizations, the great number of men who depend on the Gymnasium for their exercise in winter months are forced to put up with disadvantages which keep many men out of the building altogether. When the afternoon classes are in session the floor is often uncomfortably overcrowded, and the lack of good ventilation renders the atmosphere distinctly unpleasant.

The present Gymnasium is so old and out-of-date that it seems inadvisable to attempt to enlarge and improve it. What the University needs is a new building, having a suitable swimming tank, modern locker rooms and baths, and a large floor for gymnastic classes and basketball games. For the necessary funds we must appeal to the University authorities and to the graduates, and we can assure them that the undergraduates will be exceedingly grateful for the gift of a Gymnasium which they can take pleasure in using and of which they will not need to be ashamed.