Harvard does have excellent facilities in two areas, crew and squash. The Harvard crew rows out of Newell Boathouse. Built around the 1890s, the Victorian-style edifice has lost much of its aristocratic splendor, although a semblance of its former elegance is still discernible.

Weld Boathouse is what the Radcliffe crew calls home, and is also the intramural docking place. Each House has its own crew and boat, and there are sculls and wherries, with instruction for individual rowers, which can be a nice way to enjoy a warm fall or spring day on the Charles.

Squash courts are in adequate abundance. The varsity squad has its own courts at Hemenway Gym, leaving the University courts near Adams House, and the Dunster and Lowell courts are available for the rest of the students and intramurals.

The Palmer-Dixon courts are Harvard's indoor tennis courts, but there are only two of them, and needless to say the varsity has preference in the winter.

There are a slew of outdoor courts in the area next to Palmer-Dixon, but they aren't the greatest, and the winds blowing across Soldiers Field often make them unsuitable even in good weather.

The other major area for intramural and intercollegiate competition is the area behind the stadium. Soldiers Field. The baseball and lacrosse teams play here, as do the Radcliffe lacrosse and field hockey teams. All outdoor intramural sports--football, soccer, and baseball--are held here.

In addition to these official facilities, there are other less formal places to pursue one's athletic interests. Harvard Yard and the Charles River banks are fine for frisbee, touch football, and suntanning. The Freshman Union is the mecca for pingpong, pool, and that most addictive and time wasting of all endeavors, pinball.

In general, Harvard's facilities are hardly befitting a University with the largest endowment in the country, especially in the area of undergraduate use, and especially when compared to sports complexes like Princeton's and Boston College's. Harvard falls far short of the ideal of mens sana in corpore sano one would expect of a liberal arts institution.

Fortunately however, plans are underway to build a new sports complex that should alleviate many of the problems that now exist. The project might be realized by the time the class of '79 is ready to graduate.

Intramurals

Entering freshman will find one of the best intramural programs in the country at Harvard, in terms of variety, participation and organization.

"Our program is unique," said Floyd Wilson, director of intramural athletics, "because there's a separate program for freshmen. This enables the freshmen to meet and become friendly with other freshmen. A lot of the proctors participate, and this gives the students a chance to get close to them. Also the competition among freshman dormitories does a lot for freshman spirit."

Although the amount of time for intramurals is limited by the high demand for facilities, there are still so many different sports offered that a freshman should be able to do something of an athletic nature at least three times a week.

Women, now that they are in sufficient numbers in the Yard, play in all but the heavy contact sports.

"We have increased the participation of women over the last couple of years," Wilson said, "and right now we have some special events solely for girls. Also, if there is a demand by women for something in a particular area we try to meet it. We're trying to change the program and meet the needs and wishes of the girls."