Prolonging Our Misery

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles recently announced the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) will open at 7 a.m. next year on a trial basis to accommodate early morning users.

Although this much needed change is an appreciated gesture from the administration, athletically-inclined, non-team oriented students are still second-class citizens on a campus dedicated only to meeting the needs of athletes in high-profile varsity sports programs.

The Harvard University athletic department coordinates 41 varsity sports, leading the nation in team offerings. Unfortunately, the athletics department's philosophy of "Athletics for all students" does not translate into "Physical activity for all students." If the University wants to move beyond "Athletics for athletes only," then substantial financial resources are needed to rectify the situation.

The MAC is an archaic and grossly illequipped facility badly in need of a major renovation. Even with the addition of several new state-of-the-art treadmills and stairmasters last fall with its antedivulian and rusty weights and general "ratty" aura, it remains a dilapidated and wholly inadequate facility for students not affiliated with a varsity sports team. Opening two hours early will do little to calm the long waits students experience for court space and free weights--nor will it address the shortage of modern equipment. And the QRAC still does not open until noon.

Harvard could use a rigorous club athletic program for non-varsity athletes, along the lines of the well run Boxing Club. Education, training, and persistence, the virtues of athletic education, are the cornerstone to physical and mental health. Though Massachusetts does not have an athletic requirement for students like New York does, the University can take a cue from Cornell and offer free classes in all varieties of the physical.

In his letter announcing the MAC hours change, Knowles carries the administration's apathy one step further by suggesting that limited funding prevents further changes. "We should recognize, I fear, that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will never be able fully to meet the growing hopes of our very energetic community," he wrote.

This is hard to believe, given Harvard's financial resources. At the very least, Harvard has the funds to provide students with athletic facilities that are clean, well-lit and modern.

The Undergraduate Council heralded these new hours last week, claiming that the victory was the result of a hard-fought battle for student needs. The irony, however, is that Knowles credited his decision not to the demands of students but to the concerns of faculty and staff. This is further evidence that when Harvard's highly prized Faculty speaks, it listens, but is deaf to the prized needs of students.

It is ironic that Harvard, an institution home to groundbreaking medical research on the benefits of exercise, totally fails to provide facilities which allow students to participate in the very activity its researchers advocate. This lack of concern for student fitness is an extension of the general disregard for the personal health and well-being of Harvard undergraduates.

One of the core values of an Ivy League education is a strong commitment to vigorous activity, be it on a varsity-level sports team or on an individual basis. Harvard should do all it can to support its students in their quest for physical fitness.