The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-29
FOOTBALL RULES
 WILL BE CHANGED
The Inter Collegiate Association
 Takes Decisive Action
MODIFICATION IS NEEDED
Vale, Princeton and Cornell Are Not Members but Had Representa- lives at the Meeting-Rug-
 by Rules Suggested.

by Rules Suggested.
 New York, December 2S.--The Inter-Col- legiate Athletic association adopted and submitted to it's rules committee tonight a resolution calling for a modification of the football rules, whereby the injury to contestants may be confined to a mini mum.
 This is the resolution as introduced by Prof. F. K. Hall of Dartmouth and adopted after three hours of acrimonious discussion:
 That the football rules committee of this association be instructed to use ev- cry endeavor to bring about such a modifi- cation of the rules as in their Judgment shall tend to reduce to a minimum the danger of physical injury to the players and at the same time retain. as far as may be possible the most desirable and wholesome features of the game"
 Only three negative votes were reg istered against the resolution, but near ly every college In the west had some thing to say concerning it.
 Prof. Alonzo A. Stagg of the University of Chicago made motion which would prohibit all officials of a football game including umpires, referees and all other participants, from talking to newspaper men after the game. Stagg made strong appeal for this motion. saying that he had been grossly misquoted at times but the convention defeated the motion by an overwhelming vote.
 Revision Is Ordered.
 The revision of the game was ordered it is understood. with due consideration of Yale, Princeton, Cornell and a few other institutions, which are not members of the Intercollegiate organization. Harvard has joined the association but its rep resentative let it be known that his institution would not be bound bv the new football rules of the association, al- though 1t would recognize it's regulation of other minor sports.
 A letter was read from David Starr Jor dan, president of the Leland Stanford. Jr, university, stating that the Ameri can game had been abandoned there and that the English rugby game had been found satisfactory, not only to the stu dents, but to the spectators.
 West Point submitted resolutions which called for radical change in the play ing rules, but these, with other resolu- tions were substituted by the resolution offered by Mir Hall of Dartmouth
 It became apparent that the large col leges were in favor of the present play ing rules, perhaps in a modified form and that the smaller institutions were violently opposed to them. The representative of nearly every institution of higher learn ing between New York and San Fran cisco made an address, and many of fered motions which would limit the dan ger of the present football game. These offerings became so confused that Halls resolutions were adopted as a compro- mise.
 corneIl's Suggestion.
 Representative from Cornell and other institutions not directly represented in the association suggested that rules minimiz- Ing the danger of the sport would be acceptable. It was lhe consensus of opin- ion that the rules regulating mass-play and the running tackle, otherwise known as the flying tackle. and playing through the line would have to be done away 0 f large colleges expressed themselves not only in favor of this, but conveyed the threat that they would either adopt a modified form of football or would with draw from the association.
 Officers of the association were elected as follows:
 Capt. Palmer E.. Pierce, L. s. M. A.. West Point president; Dr R. T. McKen- zie. University of Pennsylvania, vics Pro leyan, Conn. secretary and treasurer; executive committee: Profs. F. w Mar vel, Brown university; " N Golden, Pennsylvania State college; A H. Peter son. University of North Carolina; c. w. Savage Oberlin. Ohio: s. W. Beyer Iowa State college. and c. W. Hether- ington. University of Missouri.
 The rules committee, which will under take the task of bringing about a re- vision. follows:
 pr. H. F. Williams. Minnesota; Dr. James A. Rabbit. Haverford, Pa; E. K. Hall, Dartmouth college; Lieut. H. B. Hackett, [. s. A, Pest Point; Prof C. W. Savage. Oberlin, Ohio; Prof w L. Dudley Vanderbilt. and Dr. W. A. Lambeth, University of Virginia
 West Point Leads Reform.
 West Point took the lead in proposing a number of reforms, and these have found support among numbers of the college representatives
 These were submitted to the convention today. They include the elimination of the neutral zone, modification of the for ward pass. limiting the number of men fin the interference and other changes de- signed to make the game safer English rugby or soccer football Is suggested by some of the colleges as a substitute for the present game.
 A general discussion of football at the sessions open to the public was one of the interesting features on today's pro- grafnme.
 The discussion continued late in the session on test resolutions already framed, but the attitude Of leading col leges throughout the country was shown by the canvass taken by the executive committee of the intercollegiates associa- ton. In this canvass 50 institutions fa- vored retention of the rules of the American game with sucn changes z; would eliminate mass or other plays of unusual danger of life or limb Among these were Beloit college, Delaware col lege, Haverford college, Iowa Wesleyan university Johns Hopkins university. Kenyon college. Lehigh valley, North western university Swathmore college. Syracuse university, Tufts college, uni- versity of Chicago, University of Idaho. University of Nebraska, University Of Minnesota University of Pennsylvania. University of Tennessee, University Of R0 ~ ~"@ Tn