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PRAISES ACCURACY OF THE 1923 ALBUM

Also Endorses Precedent Established by the Article of Mr. Wadsworth on "The Future of the Class"

By Edward R. Gay

No Senior is ever in a position to appreciate his own Senior Album, and no one who is not a member of the class can have the same feeling that the Senior will come to have about the Album as the years go by. At present, the Senior, after looking at his own picture and trying to find out how many of the class he knows--he is usually disappointed to discover how many there are whom he has never seen before--is too apt to leave the book lying around until it is completely covered up.

The time will come, however, when the Album will be pulled out from the bottom of the pile to look up someone whose face has slipped out of mind. You remember him perfectly, of course, but you just cannot think what he looked like. And then you will probably waste three-quarters of an hour glancing over the pages. There is a peculiar fascination in doing this.

But in making this prophecy I am encroaching on the field of Mr. Wadsworth, whose excellent article on "The Future of the Class" is one of the innovations of the 1923 Album. In this he gives good advice to the Seniors and tells them about the activities and organizations of the Alumni. He strikes a note that has been silent in the Albums of previous years, and it sounds so well that it is to be hoped that succeeding classes may follow the precedent set by 1923.

Includes Intended Professions

Another indication that Seniors are now looking beyond commencement is the inclusion this year as part of the "lives" the profession, if it is known, that each man intends to pursue. Otherwise this Album looks very much like its predecessors, and rightly so. The task of the Album Committee is to strive for accuracy and completeness, not novelty. The photographs, which are altogether too numerous to count, are, in general, the same ones which have appeared before. A notable exception is the commemoration of the Sargent panels in photography and verse.

The Photographic Editor is also to be congratulated on persuading a few members of the Faculty to have their pictures taken again. Unfortunately this policy could not be carried out thoroughly. There are still some photographs of these august persons which apparently were taken shortly after graduation. Something is left for future Photographic Editors to accomplish.

Sets High Standard of Accuracy

Future Album Committees, though, will find that the present Album sets for them an extremely high standard of accuracy. Great pains have been taken in seeing that the list of names includes all those who should be considered as members of the class. This is a more difficult job than one would ordinarily suppose and it is complicated in the present case by the unusually large number of men who have transferred from another college and who at some time have been associated with the Class of 1923. It would be difficult to praise this very important part of the work too highly.

Really, it is hard to find fault with any part. Careful examination reveals one incorrect title and two or three photographs which did not come through the engraving process with complete success. These defects are mentioned to show that the reviewer is impartial, and with the hope that the sincerity of his praise will be undoubted.

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