[We invite all men in the University to submit communications on subjects of timely interest.]

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

I believe that there is considerable dissatisfaction among those who interest themselves in athletics in regard to the conditions under which "H's" are distributed in at least one branch of sport. That is cross-country running. In order to win an "H" under the present system one must lead a field of about seventy men in the intercollegiate run, and one must also have the good fortune to be on the winning team. If the framers of this strange device have any sense of humor they must have smiled at their work. It certainly does not cheapen the "H." One needs not only an extremely good pair of legs, but also a propitious co-operation of the planets before this fantastic coincidence happens to him. The letter might as well be withheld altogether as displayed at such a mocking distance.

Certainly cross-country running is a sufficiently important branch of track to be made a "legitimate" field in which to win one's letter. It is not a trivial sport. With the possible exception of rowing, there is no exercise which makes such a demand upon the grit and stamina of the athlete, and which leaves him in such an exhausted condition. Moreover, the distance runners in the spring are often the cross-country runners of the preceding fall. At Yale the letter is awarded to those runners who finish within twelfth place in the intercollegiate run, whether Yale wins the run or not. This does not cheapen the letter, for to secure even twelfth place in such an event requires great qualities. I think the Athletic Association should follow Yale's example in this respect, and place a real "H" within the reach of good cross-country runners, or else remove the mythical reward altogether. E.L. VIETS '11.

November 23, 1909.