A Nine-point Program To Save The Game

The individual college should make up a budget of necessary expenses of a regular student, and this criterion should be the amount of the athletic scholarship awarded. The amount in dollars and cents will vary from institution to institution and from conference to conference, but in any case it must not be above the actual expenses as certified by the college. If this procedure is followed it will do away with much of the bickering such as is going on in the Pacific Coast Conference about the difference in the cost of living in Los Angeles and Corvallis, Oregon.

4 All other financial aid, except that outlined in No. 3, is prohibited.

The prohibition includes promise of financial aid beyond the minimum time required for a student to complete his allowable athletic competition, and outside aid and outside jobs, except jobs during the summer and during the school vacations, for which the pay is not greater than that received by other people doing the same kind of work. Any outside rewards or inducements to athletes or prospective athletes, such as gifts of money, clothes, lavish entertainment, loans or acting as sureties for loans, shall be considered as excessive financial aid and be prohibited.

5 The acceptance of any aid, except that outlined in No. 3, shall result in immediate expulsion of the student involved.

Assuming a conference and all of its members, or, so far as that goes, all the conferences and colleges, have adopted this scholarship plan, then there is no reason why this rule should be broken. When an institution guarantees the needed expenses of an individual, there are certain responsibilities that he must assume. This should be explained to him in full by a regular faculty representative the day he registers. He should be asked to sign a pledge to this effect in order to receive his scholarship.

6 A fixed percentage of athletic scholarships—we suggest 75%—should be reserved only for boys in the conference territory of the college or university and its environs.

This would avoid the widespread recruiting abuses which occur in the course of competition for players from other sections. Another point that might be well taken would be to put a limit on the number of athletic scholarships each institution could provide so as to keep the competition on the same plane within a conference.

7 To receive an athletic scholarship and remain eligible for it, the recipient must take a regular course of study, of his own choice, leading to a degree. He must take a normal load of academic hours and maintain a satisfactory average. Before the beginning of his third year he must have attained the proper number of credit hours and quality points to become a fullfledged member of the junior class or his scholarship will be withdrawn.

If this rule was adopted and maintained by all institutions, most of the critics of college football would be hushed. Phony jobs and under-the-table pay are relatively unimportant compared to this phase. The maintenance of these standards does away with the stigma of "semipro" and "hired" athletes. The word "amateur" becomes real. In other words, strict observance of this rule places the proper connotation on the noun "proselyte."

8 The responsibility for proper practices of recruitment and subsidization of players should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the head football coach.