Red ink in the H.A.A. budget may soon lead the College to reverse its policy and once again solicit gifts for general athletic operations, it was learned yesterday.

Although the Faculty of Arts and Sciences last year netted 132 thousand dollars, the Department of Athletics continued its post-war trend of losing approximately one half million per year. Compensation for this deficit came out of the Faculty's unrestricted educational funds, Dean Bundy said Monday.

Bundy added, however, that he would like to free this money for other uses by "getting people to endow the whole athletic operation." A capital investment of 10 million dollars would earn enough yearly interest to put the H.A.A. in the black and keep it there indefinitely, he said.

Athletic Department officials yesterday expressed surprise at this statement. They predicted that an athletic appeal for endowment, if included with the football ticket applications sent out to alumni each fall, would immediately bring in substantial donations.

In recent years, however, University Hall has vetoed any such solicitation for general athletic funds. The Administration has felt that an Athletic Department campaign would divert too much money from the overall alumni drive which is conducted by class agents.

Half Unrestricted

Athletic fund drives have consequently been limited to campaigns among alumni of a certain sport for improvements in that sport's facilities; e.g., the effort of the Working Friends of Harvard Hockey to finance a roof for the new rink. Of the H.A.A.'s present 600 thousand dollar endowment, only one half in unrestricted money that can be used in any way the Department sees fit.

The Athletic Department's post-war deficits have been due to rising costs and "the declining demand for our football games," Bundy said. He explained that 25 years ago, in the H.A.A.'s "golden age," the Association would balance its own books and frequently make large profits. In 1928-'29, for example, the College athletic budget had a surplus of 217 thousand dollars.