HAA

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I should like to reply to John Archibald's letter in Friday's CRIMSON concerning his difficulty in purchasing tickets for the ECAC tournament hockey games. While I am currently employed in one office of the HAA, I am still a student. Since I am reasonably familiar with both sides of the picture, perhaps I may give Mr. Archibald some satisfaction.

He speaks of graft, inefficiency and corruption in the Ticket Office, but I doubt whether he realizes either the meaning of the word graft or the seriousness of his charge. I ask him to define graft and prove that it exists anywhere in the HAA. Of course, this point is ridiculous, and I won't consider it further.

I will agree that there have been difficulties in procuring and distributing tickets for these hockey games. In the first place, Harvard had to operate on short notice for the Army game. And tickets must be printed, counted, and sorted before they can be given out. The delay seems quite understandable, and the same holds true for this weekend's games at the Boston Arena. The process is not one of inefficiency, rather it is a normal device of good business.

I do believe that there is a lack of communication between the students and the ticket office. Neither seems to understand the other, but neither is making an effort. I am sure that the HAA would make the effort, but I am not so sure the students would. In working behind the window, I have been amazed to find how badly the ticket office employees are treated by those who pass before them.

Archibald's comments about the alumni are interesting in that he does not realize that this is one area in which the alumni are closely connected to the school--and they are important. the ticket office is one of the few places where the opportunity for public relations exists.

It surprises me that no one has ever bothered to thank Frank Lunden for the fine job he and his staff are doing. All that is said is what's wrong. If the ticket office is due for criticism, make it constructive.

Harvard University belongs both to the alumni and the students. And over half of the 600 available tickets went to students. But the alumni have built the Medical Center, remodeled the freshman dormitories, and constructed a major portion of the athletic facilities--including the hockey rink. They have an equal right to see the Harvard teams play. It seems to me that aside from the lack of communication, there is little cause for griping. Nicholas D. Nash '62