The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-12-02
PRESIDENT KERR
DISCUSSES ATHLETICS
November %, 1915.

NoVShoCA A@s iVAos
Editor Glacier: / have just read
your very interesting editorial on col
lesiate athletics published in the issue
of November IL. ! am an earnest be-
lever in college athletics, but as a
means of providing all students with
incentive and opportunity for proper
physical development, rather than of
training the few for intercollegiate
contests. At the Oregon Agricultural
College department Of physical edu-
cation is maintained. In addition to
the regular gymnasium work, students
are encouraged to participate, a. far
as practicable, in outdoor sports or ex-
ercises of various kinds. A great deal
more attention is given to various
forms of contests among the students
themselves and in which hundreds par
ticipate. than to the training of few
students for intercollegiate contests.
All this work, however, is incidental to
the regular college studies.
Ii occurs to me that the publicity
given by the press, particularly the
metropolitan dailies, to intercollegiate
athletic contests is likely to convey to
the public mind q wrong idealreg garding
the time actually devoted to athletics
in educational institutions and the ex-
tent to which participation in athletic
sports may interfere with regular
school work.
Take the Oregon State Agricultural
College, for instance. presume that
thus far this year more space has actu-
ally been given by some of the state
papers to athletics than all other col
lege activities combined: and yet the
fact is that at the college participation
in athletics IS mere incident and is
not allowed to Interfere with the reg
ular studies. This year the only games
requiring the absence of the football
players from any class work are the
Michigan game at Lansing and the Syr-
acuse game at Portland, the latter to
be played December !. The Michigan
game took the men from college ten
days. For the Syracuse game they will
miss one days work. But all the work
missed has to be made up.
Upon the return of the team from
Michigan, great deal of space was
given in the press to the announcement
of celebrations in honor of the players.
Notwithstanding the big demonstrations
at the college. however, the arrange
ments we're such that the students did
not miss a single recitation.
Another idea that is more or less
prevalent is that football men, particu-
larly, are interested primarily, if not
entirely, in athletics, and that they
take as little other work as possible,
and usually fail in it. At the Oregon
Agricultural College, students who
participate in athletics are under the
same regulations as other students.
They must carry regular work and
maintain satisfactory grades; other
wise they not only are inhibited from
participating in any athletic contest,
but their standing in the institution
would be jeopardized. And any work
missed by athletes. as well as other
students, must be made up.
The character of the men participat-
ing in athletics and their standing as
students are indicated by the following
report of the registrar: Of this years
football team, one is graduate stu
dent, having received his first degree
at the college last June; nine are SEN
iors; seven are sophomores. and three
are freshmen. The average grade fdf
the last semester of the men on this
years football team was 83 per cent.
Men on the baseball team averaged 80
per cent: the basketball team. 81 per
cent. The % men participating in
track last spring averaged 85 per cent.
The captain of this years team, with
the greatest record last year as
sprinter, averaged "a per cent. The
general average of men students, num-
bering upwards Of 100. was 1876 per
cent. The general average of all men
participating in intercollegiate athlet-
les - football. baseball, basketball,
wrestling and track-was SO per cent.
W. j. Kerr.