In another column we publish the report of the auditing committee on athletics, which we recommend to the careful perusal of all interested in the success of our athletic system. The committee is to be congratulated on the reforms it has introduced in the manner of keeping accounts, and although perfection has not by any means been attained, we have every reason to expect that hereafter the expenses of our athletic organizations will not be shrouded by the impenetrable veil of mystery and secrecy which has been far too common in the past. It is pleasant to know that for once not a single athletic team is in debt, and that all have some surplus in the treasury. Indeed, good financial management has now become an important factor in the success of all athletic teams, and one of the purposes of the auditing committee is to see that the funds are used discreetly and the books kept systematically.
In the case of the crew, more money will be needed this year than last, but we trust, now that the old debt hanging over the boat club has been wiped out, the college will contribute generously enough to keep it out of debt in the future.
The last paragraph of the report deserves especial attention. Complaint is made that the old custom of each man at the training tables paying what his board had previously cost him, has for some unknown reason been abandoned, and that now it is sometimes difficult to collect any money for board at all. We had always presumed that certain conscientious scruples would prevent a man, although a member of a university team, from living entirely at the expense of the college, and that as a matter of course, he would pay at the regular training table what he had been accustomed to pay before. While the necessary expenses of a training table will be borne by the college, the entire cost will not, and the men at the training tables have no right to expect it. We are charitable enough to assume that all unpaid bills of this nature are the result of carelessness rather than selfishness on the part of the debtors.
Read more in Opinion
Amusements.