A stroll through the H.A.A. offices at this time of the year can be pretty dull. No one's thinking about football, winter sports are merely statistics in the between terms interim, and spring sports are too far off to worry about.

As most people know, there is a new problem around this year. Perhaps "new" is the wrong word; the problem has been with us for a few years, but it seems especially apparent now. Thus, when I opened the door yesterday I expected people to be standing in corners chatting merrily away about this and that, mostly that.

"What's new?" I asked a secretary sitting in front of Bill Bingham's office.

"Well, we've painted the front door," she said.

"Has Mr. Bingham been through it recently?"

"Not since before the NCAA conference."

"What's he doing nowadays?"

"Resting after those gruelling meetings."

A Little Trouble

The next move was over to the Business Office. Mr. Getchell explained to me that construction of the Indoor Athletic Building ate up all the HAA surplus, and "we've been having a little trouble since then."

"Nothing serious, of course."

"We're playing Stanford again next year," I muttered. A lesser man might have shed a tear at this point.

"You know how long ago that game was contracted, don't you?"

We left Mr. Getchell's office and started to move back to the other side of the building. There was a one man line waiting in front of the ticket window. He might have been a friend of the seller.

In case you've never met W. Henry Johnston, publicity director for the HAA, he's a short, balding individual who has always gone out of his way to help an interested reporter.

New Information

"How's Coach Valpey, Mr. Johnston?"

"Any statement about Mr. Valpey will have to come from Mr. Valpey."

"Well, what's happening on the football situation?"

"They're handling that sort of thing downtown. You know just as much about it as I do."

My head brimming with this information, I left the vine-covered HAA offices.

There was one more chance. A call to Mr. Valpey was bound to net some valuable information about his recent travels. This being the subject for several stories by the discriminating Boston papers, it was certainly good for the CRIMSON.

"How about your trip to New Mexico, Mr. Valpey?"

"They invited me out there, and I had some business in the midwest, so I combined the two trips."

(The president of New Mexico told a reporter earlier this week that Valpey hadn't even put in an application for the new job. This didn't rule out Valpey, and the new coach will be announced in a few days.)

Bill Bingham wasn't at home. No one knew where he was or how long he would be there.