STEVE TOOK A CHANCE

With $700,000 on hand for the building of the long-anticipated athletic plant and the prospect of losing $250,000 of it if work is not begun by February, the necessity of immediate and courageous action on the part of the athletic authorities cannot be denied. The announcement that, funds or no funds for the fourth, construction on the first three floors or the new gymnasium will begin next week, marks a direct effort to sever the Gordian knot. New precedent or not, Mr. Bingham has proved that he is quite capable of dealing with the numerous annoying hindrances in the path of carrying out his athletics-for-all policy to its logical conclusion.

With the new building under way two alternatives face the authorities, either the procuring of the needed $300,000 on short order from alumni or friends of the College or the substitution of a temporary roof for the fourth floor and its proposed basketball courts until a more favorable day. In case of the latter event, the University would at least have its much-needed swimming pool and the other two floors would relieve Hemenway sufficiently to be a blessing.

In less than a week the outcome will be in the lap of the gods and all Harvard supporters. Mr. Bingham has proved that he has the courage of his convictions, and has a right to expect unanimous support in his struggles with the elusive new plant. The walls, rising brick on brick, will soon lend tangibility to a cause which heretofore has suffered from uncertainty.