Hosannahs ring through the land and words of praise pour forth from hundreds of typewriters. General MacArthur, the conquerer of Japan, is hailed as the new hero in the sports world for his efforts in bringing a cease-fire in the vitriolic war between the Amateur Athletic Union and the National Collegate Athletic Association. But we can not join in the celebration, for MacArthur's truce is a tenuous and fragile arrangement imposed by the powers and prestige of the Presidency of the United States. It solves none of the basic issues. In fact, it ignores some major considerations and raises new questions.

The battle MacArthur halted is a strange one, as it involves practically no substantive dispute regarding actual athletic competition. The squabble is primarily over jurisdictional rights and "paper" eligibility rights.

Ridiculous Feud

Despite the angry accusations and flaring tempers, the issues in the dispute are quite simple. The NCAA, irritated over the years by the AAU's handling of the selection of U.S. Olympic teams, has been seeking what it calls "adequate" representation in the selection procedure. The AAU, long-time sole representative of the United States in international athletic matters, has jealously proclaimed its right to continue in this position. As proof of its determination to retain its monopoly, the AAU recently declared that all athletes participating in meets sponsored by the NCAA fostered Track and Field Federation were ineligible for Olympic competition. As this would amount to nearly all U.S. track performers, the country's olympic future began to grow pale. Because the ineligibility ruling was based on nothing but "paper" jurisdictional considerations, the feud bean to look more and more ridiculous.

In retaliation, the NCAA decided to ask its members to boycott all AAU competitions. This action threatened to wreck nearly all open track competition in the U.S. (The dispute, by the way, involves more than track and field; the NCAA is also contesting AAU jurisdiction in basketball, gymnastics, and baseball.)

After it decided the NCAA was serious, the AAU announced it was ready to allow some NCAA representation, but only on terms which would allow the AAU to maintain control. Last Spring the ECAC offered a face-saving coalition plan, but this was generally ignored. A seeming armistice was arranged by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy some months ago, but it lasted only a few weeks.

Part of the reason the AAU felt able to withstand the assaults of the NCAA was the fact it had the support of the International Olympic Federation. Rumors are that the international group was more responsive to the AAU because American colleges have aroused considerable resentment by recruiting for top athletes in foreign countries.

The MacArthur settlement, announced Monday, is actually quite a victory for the NCAA, and the college group has been noticeably more enthusiastic about it than the AAU. The NCAA got pretty much all it asked for--equal representation on the committee which rules on Olympic selections and an end to the AAU ban on Track and Field Federation meets. In return, the NCAA ended its boycott and agreed that the AAU should continue to represent the U.S. to the International Olympic committee. The later concession, however, is buffered by the NCAA's new status on the selection committee. The NCAA also managed to obtain recognition for its new Federations, which it claims will be more responsive to coachs' suggestions and more adaptable to the needs of college athletes. The NCAA charges the AAU has "failed miserably" in providing clinics, extensive training and performance research, and provision for post-graduate competition. According to the AAU, the Federations are "revolutionary" (and therefore evil).

This is no real solution. The only reason both groups agreed to it was a professed great faith in MacArthur's sense of fairness. There is some question as to how much MacArthur actually knows about such matters, and if he dies in the next two years, anything can happen. Furthermore, the agreement only will last through the 1964 Olympic games.

Disturbing Implications

But even if the honorable old gentleman mangages to steer his reluctant wards through the coming two years, there is reason to question the wisdom of recent procedings. MacArthur was only able to do what he did because he represented the President. No solution was in sight before President Kennedy practically declared the dispute a national emergency and took Executive action. This intrusion of the federal government apparently will be permanent, as all groups concerned have asked the President to convene a national sports congress in 1965 to discuss long-range management of U.S. athletic competition. It is sad indeed when even athletics requires the regulation of the Federal government.

Quite undisturbed about the government's new role in athletics, the President hailed MacArthur's work, and expressed satisfaction that the U.S. will now be able to field a strong team in Tokyo in 1964. This may not be the case. What MacArthur didn't settle, and what both the AAU and the NCAA have refused to face, is a recent ruling by the International Olympic Committee declaring all athletes suported by athletic scholarships or state money ineligible. This will undoubtedly affect the Iron Curtain country teams, but the edict may be most damaging to the U.S. Most college athletes have athletic scholarships, and the ruling quite plainly eliminates armed services personnel.

Cold War Games

Since Mr. Kennedy clearly stated that the condition of U.S. athletics was a matter of international prestige, it is obvious MacArthur's settlement solves only a small part of the problem. Mr. Kennedy intervened in the AAU-NCAA dispute because he felt a poor U.S. showing in the Olympics would constitute a severe setback to national prestige. The Olympic Games, formerly an event for friendly athletic competition, have thus been recognized by the U.S. government as an appropriate test of the advantages of capitalism and communism. This has long been the opinion of numerous misled sports writers and individuals, much to the detriment of the games. Government interference will detract still further from the purposes of the games, perhaps to the extent of destroying them as sporting events.

It is absurd and senseless to use the games as cold war battle fronts. Hitler tried to use the 1936 Olympics to prove the supremecy of his Nazi state and earned the laughter of the world when German athletes produced only average performances. Now the U.S., which invented the insidious, meaningless, and unofficial team point system, is following in Hitler's path. Our embarrassment may be as painful as Hitler's, as there is little chance of a U.S. "team" victory in 1964.