H. A. A. SURPLUS

The announcement of the money saved by the erection of permanent steel stands in place of the more expensive alternate solutions of the Stadium problem may well bring up the question of what this money has been saved for. At the end of the fiscal year last June the Harvard Athletic Association had on hand a balance of $393,939.72. Estimates of surplus to be added to this figure this year are upwards of one hundred thousand dollars. From the total balance of approximately $520,000.00 will be subtracted the price of the steel stands, roughly $170,000, which leaves $350,000.00 still idly remaining in the H. A. A. treasury.

So far as can be learned there is no plan for the disposal of this sum which has now been accruing for some years. No doubt it is a comfortable feeling to have a third of a million dollars in one's bank account; something sturdy and respectable to point to, but it does seem a little useless for an organization which has practically nothing in the way of current liabilities. Nor is there any grave danger of a panic in the football market in anticipation of which reserves should be conservatively hoarded.

In general there is little to be asked for in the way of increased athletic equipment and facilities which is not now being carried out by the H. A. A. Every one who wants to play football, plays football. Anyone who wants to row, rows; and so on throughout the whole gamut of organized athletics, there is opportunity and equipment for all, The one exception is the new gymnasium. Throughout the current year there has been talk of the difficulty of raising sufficient funds for its completion, and at present the plan is to leave the construction of the top story until the three hundred and seventy odd thousand dollars necessary may be obtained.

The objections to the erection of a mere two thirds of a gymnasium are numerous and have already gained a good deal of recognition. In the first place it is a sloppy way of doing things and will involve the extra expense incident to the construction and subsequent wrecking, of a temporary roof. During the time of building the third story, much if not all of the gymnasium will be closed to facilitate the activities of the contractor and his employees. And obviously the University will completely lack for an indefinite period the use of the top story which has not been built. As this was planned to contain the basketball floor, its non-existence will place a burden on many men.

The obvious answer to the problem is that the present idle surplus of the H. A. A. be used in completing the gymnasium. What earthly objection there can be to such a plan it is hard to imagine. The H. A. A. itself is in favor of it but has so far been detained in carrying out its own wishes by pressure from the Corporation. The doings and deliberations of this body are always cloaked in obscurity and the motivation of its decisions not always apparent. In the present instance, the Corporation's reluctance to let the H. A. A. spend its own money seems unusually inexplicable. In view of the fact that this tightening of the purse strings is likely to affect the bodily welfare of a large share of the student body, it is necessary that a more adequate explanation be given than has so far met the eye.