1903-04 Volume 28 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

THE SCROLL. 569HEALTH OF COLLEGE ATHLETES.Dr. George L. Meylen, Harvard, '02, now director of theColumbia gymnasium, has investigated college athletics, withreference especially to the health of the athletes. The resultsof his inquiries are printed in detail in the Harvard Graduate'sMagazine, in which he says:The evils attributed to athletics are many. Some claim that athletesare dulled and brutalized by sports, with the result that they fall below the.standard in intellectual" attainments; others pretend that athletic training andcompetition so exhaust the young men that they lack the nervous force and.energy necessary for sucdess in life. Still other alarmists tell us that athletesdie young of heart disease or consumption, or, at best, are more or lessincapacitated physically. Unfortunately, there has been much written and.more said on this question, but without any attempt to get at the facts in thematter. The only phase of the question which may be said to have beeninvestigated thoroughly is the intellectual standing of athletes. The results,in every case have shown that athletes are not only up to the average inscholarship,..but in most cases they.stand-a.b.ove^the-ayerage of-studentS-_^-..-Dr. Meylen began a systetiiatic investigation into the historyof all Harvard oarsmen froin the first race, in 1852, to 1892,inclusive. - He. selected the oarsmen because in training theydo exactly the same kind and amount of work; because rowingwas the first intercollegiate sport organized, and becauseit is the most strenuous of all sports, and said to overtax theheart and kidneys more than any other. He first obtained acomplete list of all Harvard 'varsity oarsmen for the 41 yearsmentioned, and found that 152 different men rowed duringthat time, and of these, 120 were living November i, 1902.His traveling expenses being paid by the Harvard athleticcommittee, he either visited every one of the 120 survivors orhad examinations made by the family physician of thosewhom he did not visit. From the data thus secured he compiledan elaborate table, showing that the oarsmen had exceededtheir natural expectation of life. Commenting onthis exhibit, he says:The table shows conclusively that Harvard oarsmen do not die prematurely,and that they live longer than healthy men accepted by life insurancecompanies. The frequent assertion that athletes are particularly liableto heart disease and consumption is riot true of Harvard oarsmen, for these'diseases are rare among them.In addition to information about the health of the 120 survivors,Dr. Meylen obtained information as to the professionor business of 105 of them. He says that not one can besaid to have made a failure in life. There are 5 who are insubordinate positions. About 80 are what may be calledsuccessful professional and business men. The other 20 aremen of national and international reputation, being at the