THE HOUSE CREWS

With the first week of House crew now over, a question of primary importance has been brought to the front. Shall non-University crews this spring he House or Class crews? Discussion at Newell rises high these days, with abundant arguments being put forth by adherents of both sides of the question.

The chief point put forward is the fact that at the Derby Day races in the latter part of May, a Yale champion class crew will race whatever Harvard has to offer in the way of an eight made up of oarsmen of non-University calibre. It is ridiculous, argues the Senior oarsman in a House that maintains indifference to everything in general, and crew mediocrity in particular, that a house champion eight rather than a class champion eight should be sent to the Derby Day regatta.

With seven Houses in operation, the men who are good oarsmen are scattered among seven crews. Eight excellent seniors, for example, who have rowed together for the past three years, are now separated, and obliged to enter the same shell with a group of younger, less experienced, but not less enthusiastic, oarsmen. Moreover, some of the men who have failed to make one of the two University eights feel that rowing on a House crew is unthinkable, and for this reason several men have hung up their crew trunks and socks for the rest of the season.

From the standpoint of the development of future University crews, it probably would be better to have class crews, in which the best oarsmen of each class row in the same boat. But if Harvard, in establishing the Houses, wishes also to promote inter-House athletic competition, it is even more important that the crews for the non-University men should be kept House eights. Any other system would defeat the purposes of the House Plan, and would run counter to the opinion expressed by the Student Council last year.

In order to maintain House crews at a high standard. It seems advisable to make eligibility rules inclusive enough to permit Tutors and all members of the House who are not on a University crew, and who are not II men, to take part in the House rowing. In this way, with the aid of a few possible oarsmen on the tutorial boards, and a few additional oarsmen of class-crew ability, House crews of high standard could be arranged.

The calibre of class crews might he slightly higher than that of the House boats, but this is by no means a certainty. The winning House football eleven did not do too badly against the Yale class champion outfit last fall, for example. Certainly the single race with Yale should not be the ultimate aim of the oarsmen; one race should not be allowed to govern the conduct of a year's period of dailly rowing. House crews are an integral part in the general system of House athletics, and should continue.