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Following closely upon the heels of the news of the closing of the Hemenway Gymnasium comes the news of the abolition of all Junior Varsity sports except football and crew. Although this radical move is laid at the door of schedule difficulties, there is little doubt that the ghost of financial trouble stalks ponderously through the background. The schedule difficulties do not seem insurmountable, for the Jayvee teams, being' generally inferior to the Freshmen, play the majority of their games with the larger academies and high schools, and could hence have interesting and extensive schedules arranged with little difficulty.
As for the financial side, there something must indeed be done, for the H.A. A. cannot go on steadily retrenching, limiting its activities, and carrying as large a debt as it is at present. Regrettably enough the Democratic administration has not as yet brought back the old-time football crowds which paid for everything from kangaroo-leather running shoes to the heavenly-scented rubbing-oil. Among the possibilities which have been mentioned are those of establishing an athletic endowment by some of our more solvent polo-playing graduates, and the taxing of Freshmen for their required exercise. These both carry heavy disadvantages and are not in accord with the established tradition of the H.A.A.
The easiest solution would seem to be to bring intercollegiate minor sports back to a sane intramural basis. Too often in the past years has the game been confused with the trophy on the watch chain, or the letter on the chest. Now perhaps is the best time to come back to earth and realize that perhaps sport for its own sake is not an idle dictum.
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