A SPRING FANCY

While declining gate receipts justify many slashes in the H.A.A. budget, there can be no excuse for negligent medical service at the Dillon Field House. Not until the day when sports are abolished at Harvard, can one cent be subtracted from the medical appropriation of the most stubborn budget if this should endanger the health of any student. Granted, it is enticing to hack here but the difficulties of coaching and travelling cuts are not accompanied by the threat of life and death.

There are several hundred men engaging in spring athletics a Soldiers Field. Baseball, track, crew, and lacrosse are all sports in which a man is liable to suffer an injury. Surely a primary requisite is one qualified medical advisor in constant attendance at the Field House. What is the case now? If a man is injured on a playing field, he is forced to wait until late in the afternoon for the doctor to arrive. If he is able to walk, he can go to the Hygiene Building. To point out that delay often involves sacrifice of the most beneficial treatment is sufficient indictment without conjuring up pictures of the other things that might happen.

What happens when the physician does arrive and there have been a large number of sprained ankles and pulled tendons? Since he must examine every case, he is rushed and is forced to give men summary and unsatisfactory treatment. If a serious condition develops the man may be kept out of his sport for several weeks and may diminish gate receipts. Two more important considerations are the unfairness to the men themselves and to the coaches and teams who suffer from the loss of players.

The second line of defense is also weak. Although one trainer is in constant attendance, he is only one. He might well treat ordinary injuries but the demands which are made of his time preclude the possibility of this.

Spring sports may be on a casual bass but medical attention cannot be. Immediate care is the primary requisite of a successful and intelligent athletic program. The H.A.A. can never be allowed to get in such a pinched financial condition that it cannot provide adequate medical care for its players.