"I Take Full Responsibility"

The Harvard Crimson assumes no responsibility for the sentiments expressed by correspondents, and reserves the right to exclude any communication whose publication may for any reason seem undesirable. Except by special arrangement, communications cannot be published anonymously.

To the Editor of the CRIMSON

I have been in close touch with Harvard football for the past four years, three years of playing in a minor role and this past season as coach and scout. I have, in the latter capacity, followed teams other than Harvard somewhat more closely than the average observer.

It is my opinion, based on this close touch and fairly widespread observation that the attitude maintained by the CRIMSON in its editorial on Monday, November 30 is false. I certainly fail to see, in the academic relations between athletics and scholarship, that the last name has in any way come off second best. The statement that "the lusty infant (football)" has become stronger than its "parent" (the college), is absurd. It is well known that the scholastic requirements within the college itself, and the requirements towards entering college have been increased tremendously in the last six years. The so-called "President's" agreement between Harvard Yale and Princeton has been a further check on the feared ascendancy of football.

Furthermore, the undergraduate mind, I imagine, has changed but little in the last 25 years. Football was as much a topic of conversation in 1900 as in the past fall, and as long as the game is as colorful as it is, as long as the rivalry is as keen, it will continue so, debates and CRIMSON editorials to the contrary.

As regards the publicity of the daily press, Harvard should consider herself lucky. For with the great increase in interest in football, has come the corresponding improvement in "small college" play (or vice versa) and today much of the publicity is not for Harvard, Yale and Princeton, but for Tulane and Alabama and Missouri.

I went through the files of the Boston papers at the Public Library for the year 1915. Without making an accurate comparison between the sport pages of that year and those of 1925, one outstanding fact appeared. And that is that in 1915, the "Big Three" received practically all the publicity, whores now it is spread over ten or a dozen colleges. At this rate, I should think the CRIMSON, would welcome any increase in popularity of the sport, for with that increase comes a decrease in the news columns of Harvard notes.

I am going to make a statement now for which I take full responsibility. It is may opinion that this "fanfare" of interest in the University is being tended and fueled by the CRIMSON simply to arouse interest in the CRIMSON. In other words the CRIMSON is in danger of changing its color from white to yellow, which is far more pressing problem to the college than that of football.

No doubt I am adding fuel to the fire with this letter, but that is my opinion. What are you going to do about it (Ed.'s note: Why, publish it, of course.) Thomas Sawes Hlake 2nd. Occ.