But the tone of Watson's response did not echo Kaufmann's optimism. "It is not our intention to make any serious dents in [the men's] practice procedure," Watson responded on November 2. "Are we justified in dismantling established men's programs that have operated in a vigorously competitive atmosphere in order to accord 'equal treatment' to programs which are not really equal in either intensity or dedication?"

"It may be an unfair attitude," Watson wrote, "but I have a feeling that with at least several Radcliffe teams, being a member of the varsity is more a matter of interest than ability."

Watson did not consult Radcliffe athletes or Paget before writing his letter, and showed it to Paget about three weeks after delivering his letter policy statement to Rosovsky.

Watson appointed two student advisory bodies to help smooth out some of the confusions in the new relationship. The Undergraduate Athletics Council, a committee of three women athletes and three men athletes, and all Radcliffe and Harvard captains met regularly with Watson throughout the year.

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The merger did not affect all Radcliffe teams uniformly. Those that practiced on playing areas not already overcrowded by the men's program--the crew and sailing team on the Charles, the ski team on distant slopes--prospered from the merger. The Radcliffe tennis team even worked out an agreement with Harvard tennis coach Jack Barnaby to share the indoor courts with the men's squad during the winter.

Barnaby rearranged practice times for his junior varsity team--and often cut their times--so that the Radcliffe players had one of the three courts for two hours, six days per week. During spring recess, the Athletics Department sent the women's tennis team on a Southern tour.

But for women's teams that practice on the strained facilities--the swim, basketball and squash teams--the merger turned into what many Radcliffe athletes now term a "sub-merger."

The women's swim team had scheduled practice time in two lanes of the IAB pool for only four-and-a-half hours per week. (The men practiced four hours each day.) The women were assigned to the lanes under the diving board, often at the same time that Harvard's divers practiced. Occasionally, several Radcliffe swimmers say, they arrived for practice and found the men's team in their lanes. Harvard swim coach Ray Essick did not order his swimmers to clear the lanes, they say, and many Radcliffe swimmers often left rather than argue.

Essick has denied that the Harvard team ever usurped Radcliffe's lanes, but then qualified his statement: "'Never' is a very difficult, general term."

The Radcliffe basketball team secured only one hour per week of practice time on the Harvard regulation court, and practiced for two hours, each of the other six days on the Radcliffe gym court, which is at least 15 feet narrower than the IAB facility. Harvard's varsity practiced daily on the IAB court, and the Intramural house teams had nightly scheduled practices there. On the priority yardstick, the Radcliffe varsity ranked lower than the non-varsity house squads.

"This year, we just couldn't do it," Watson said. "Many of the men swimmers, basketball players, and other athletes would have said, 'Why should these girls take our time away when they were never recruited and we were?'"

The comment goes right to the heart of a crucial difference between the Radcliffe and Harvard philosophies of athletics. Harvard recruits its athletes and can plan five years in advance for the teams, competition schedules, and coaching needs. Radcliffe, however, develops its teams once the women athletes have chosen Radcliffe for other reasons. "I'd be upset if Radcliffe ran around recruiting athletes. But the admissions office needs to learn more about athletics. They should see it as part of character and achievement," Connie Cervilla '74, former Radcliffe crew captain and former national swimming champion, said last spring.

Radcliffe's teams nevertheless have a strong, impressive record in the New England leagues. Among its ten varsity teams, seven qualify for and participate in regional, sectional and national events. Five hold USA, national or regional intercollegiate championships. The crew, swim team and tennis team all had perfect seasons last year.

Because Radcliffe stresses development as well as intensity, Paget said that administrators' personal encouragement and involvement with Radcliffe athletes is a central tenet of the program. All Radcliffe team captains contacted during the last weeks of school said this aspect of the program needs preserving.