Athletic Funds on the Farm

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

On January 21, one of your chaps, Charles W. Bailey, put a rotten egg in his beer. He was speaking of the insanity code, and in doing so evidenced what might very well be considered poor sportsmanship by writing: "There seem to be ways of getting around the matter of salaries--you can start a "Buck-A-Month" Club, like Stanford, and have the Alumni pay the bill. . . ."

Stating that the Buck-of-the-Month Club, or anybody else for that matter, is paying Stanford gridders' salaries is not only poor taste but a bold face lie. I would appreciate it if this error would be corrected.

For your information, the entire proceeds of the Buck-of-the-Month Club go toward paying that portion of our tuition that the Pacific Coast Conference allows ($535 out of $600 per year). The money is paid directly from the Buck Club to the university and the athlete never even sees it. And when I said "entire proceeds" go to helping (through a grant-in-aid) on tuition I meant just that. Even the Club bulletin is supported by a local department store (Roos Brothers) as an advertising stunt.

There are 76 students at Stanford on Buck Club grant-in-aids. Of these, 24 are Varsity football players, and of these two dozen less than a half-dozen started against your ill-fated grid team. The other 52 men receiving help with their tuition are engaged in non-revenue producing sports such as tennis, swimming, baseball and basketball (etc.).

The Stanford Buck-of-the-Month Club is an institution that we are rightly proud of here on the Farm. It is designed to help worthy but financially restricted athletes to obtain a good education as well as to stimulate our athletic set-up.

Your boy Bailey is off base. Alvin B. Berry,   Sports Editor, Stanford Daily