Security Will be Strengthened At Harvard-Yale Grid Match

The sater goalposts athletic officials have been trying to create won't make it from the blackboard to the gridiron before this year's Harvard-Yale contest.

But officials hope that increased police presence and a strict policy on alcohol will prevent people from attacking the crossbars at the end of the game.

The Standing Committee on Athletics this week dismissed a proposal for collapsable goalposts by McKay Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics, Myron B. Fiering '55, because they needed more consideration, according to Adam J. Augustynski '86, a student representative of the committee.

In the meantime, athletic officials will discuss several plans to beef up security and promote safety at the final football game on November 17.

The issue has arisen in the wake of an incident at last year's Harvard-Yale game at New Haven, where a Harvard freshman was struck and seriously injured by a falling goalpost after the game.

Director of Athletics John P. Reardon '60 stressed the importance of a heavy police presence at the game. "People who run toward the goalposts will be arrested," he said. "It's unfortunate that we have to protect people from themselves."

Augustynski said that the athletic department "will be looking very closely at the Penn game to determine what kinds of security will be necessary for Yale."

As to the extent of police protection at the Harvard-Yale clash, Reardon said that Harvard Police "will have to decide how much enforcement will be needed."

Jack W. Morse, Deputy Chief of Police at the Harvard Police Deparment, declined to say how much protection will be provided, but he did say "the police presence will be formidable."

He added that in previous years the police have been lax on allowing alcohol into the stands, but this year "there will be a firm stand taken against bringing alcoholic beverages into the stadium."

"The booze and the people will not be together at the stadium for this game," he said.

Reardon said that in addition to added security, fewer temporary field stands will be added for this year's Harvard-Yale contest. Ordinarily, bleachers run all the way around the stadium, but Reardon said this year there will be no field stands between the 10 yard lines.

In past home games, Reardon said, spectators sitting in the stands to be removed for the Yale game have obstructed the view for stadium fans.

"The field stands always cause problems because people in these seats always stand up, which makes it difficult for the fans in the stadium seats to see," said Reardon.

The decision to eliminate these seats was particulary difficult, Reardon said, because "the number of applications for tickets is unbelievable." He added that removing these seats means that there will be "less people right on the field to storm the goalposts."

"We lose some seats, and we lose some money too, but I think it's a better control decision not to have those seats," he said.

At this week's meeting, both of Fiering's collapsable goalpost proposals were rejected.

His first project involved goalposts made from a plastic-like material, but it was struck down because it was susceptible to vandalism.

The second project was a goalpost with collapsable crossbar, which Augustynski said was dismissed because "some of the crossbar was left standing, and it was still possible to pull this down." He added that if these goalposts were to be torn down, they would bring down many more sharp, jagged pieces than a traditional crossbar.