The Washington times., 1912-02-12
Member of w. & J. Faculty
Suggests Many Queer
Changes.

WASHINGTON, Pa. Feb. 12.-In a
statement given out for publication DR..
Edwin Lanton, professor of biology at
Washington and Jefferson College here
and chairman of the faculty committee
on athletics at that institution, makes
some very serious and rather startling
charges against college football and
suggests some radical remedies for ex-
isting defects. Among other things, DR..
Linton suggests the substitution of some
other form OF rugby football and the
abolition of gate receipts. He states
frankly that he favors the abandonment
of intercollegiate football until sane
form of sport is found as a substitute.
Prof. Linton has for twenty-five years
beer actively identified with athletics at
Washington and Jefferson as advisory
manager, member of the faculty ath-
letic committee and as delegate to con-
Ventions of colleges and is recognized
as big factor IN college athletics both
at this institution and throughout this
section. Personally he claims to be
greet lover of football and other inter-
collegiate sport.
las the game is now exploited In our
colleges and universities 1t Is open to
the following serious objections:
Highly Specialized.
81. The game Is too highly special
lied
calling, as it does. for men of a GER
tain physical build, but a small proper
ton of our students can qualify as play
ers. 1t has come about that the game
is no longer adapted, II 1t ever was
adapted, to be played by the generality
of boys and young men. A visitor To
| any college athletic field during the
football season will find himself watch
| ing some two dozen players vigorously
at work, not play, driven by a greater
or less number OF taskmasters, who are
exacting the last unit of energy and en-
durance of the candidates for the team.
For what purpose? To produce an ef-
fective fighting machine and at the
| same time to establish reputation for
| developing a winning team. am hoI
arguing against fighting machines or
| salaried coaches, but am trying TO call
the attention of college authorities to
the undesirability of the college being
used as the arena for the exploitation
of highly specialized form of athletics:
In other words. the game Is not played
for the pleasure which the players them
selves derive. 1t has become a serious
business.
"2. Money making games a neces-
"As now conducted the game OF
football is attended with such an out
lay OF money for coaches, equipment
training tables. guarantees, officials
&C, that money making games are
made necessary in order to keep the
athletic associations out of debt. This
fact alone must be regarded as a de,
basing influence in our colleges. !
think it is to the credit OF the Ameri'
can student body that 1t has in mos
cases risen above the mercenarI
} temptations which this condition o!
, to the spirit of loyalty to keep tn
| teams up to the desired level OF ef'
! ficiency. 1t is also to the credit or th'
faculties of our colleges that they ar,
striving, with greater or less success
! to keep the taint of professionalism
Aom their teams. In this matter
however, both students and faculties
or later are liable to prove too pow
erful or too subtle for consistent ant
successful resistance.
Infict Injury.
."3 Opportunity and temptation af
forded by the game to infiict' inten
tional personal injury.
"As the game is now played in thi
country the opportunity for infiictinl
intentional personal injury upoI
players of opposing teams and TIL
temptation to do SO are always pres
ent In the attempt to remove thi
source of danger the rules provide 70
officials who must be learned in tn
e game. From time to time their mum
Der has been increased. Good official
5 are necessary adjunct of every i'm
Y portant game. The environment o
= the football player in a closely con
. tested game with a rival team is sue
e as to demand other restraints thai
4 those which come from even a lonI
: line of Puritan or Quaker ancestr
Inc hn lanp In
5 rules of the game. Hence the i'm
'poTtsnce Of having officials who knoI