A glance at the '53 spring athletic schedules might lead one to believe a determined effort is being made to eliminate track as a major sport at Harvard.

The H.A.A. schedule for the '53 runners consists of four dual meets, two of them on the farcical side, and the Heptagonal and IC4A Championships, both of which are usually reserved for the team's top three of four stars.

Admittedly, there are budgetary problems in scheduling worthy home-and-home track series. Transporting upwards of 30 men over any great distance is bound to be pretty expensive. But track is a major sport at Harvard in name if not in fact. Either the H.A.A. should treat it as a major sport and attempt to put together some sort of a decent schedule or else it might as well do away with the sport altogether.

A track man is almost a slave to the sport. He is expected to spend most of the fall getting in shape for the winter season; then build up in the winter for a big outdoor season. It takes as lot of time and work, and certainly a disproportionate liking for the sport.

But when the H.A.A. arranges a schedule which lists only dual meets with Holy Cross, Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale, it takes a big step toward eliminating some of track's more tangible pleasures. What's more, it threatens to eat the heart out of any track team.

Dartmouth and Yale have good squads; and will give the local runners something at which to aim. Brown and Holy Cross won't offer enough competition to warrant putting on a track uniform. And for the Heps and the IC4A, only the top stars will make the trip.

As a result a few of the Crimson's top performers such as Bob Twitchell, Bob Rittenberg, and Pete Dow will get plenty of chances to show their prowess over the spring. But the men who practice day in and day out so that someday they might get a meet-winning second or third place are being ignored.

Admittedly, there are few nearby colleges that can offer sufficient oppositions to the usually strong Crimson runners. But within the Eastern area there are at least a half dozen teams that could make a decent schedule out of the present farce. Princeton, Cornell, and West Point, for example, would be logical opponents. Certainly two New York teams would do much to pick up the lagging schedule: Manhattan New York University. And if all these schools are unavailable, any number of opponents can be found among southern teams. And again right there at home Boston College, Tufts, and Rhode Island State turn out pretty good teams.

To schedule these teams would bring up the old problem of expenses. Planning track schedules with no opposition will save H.A.A. cash; it may even save more money if Harvard drops track as an organized sport in four or five years.