A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

With the appointment today of the editors-in-chief of the Red Book, a salutary change proposed this year in the conduct of Freshman affairs will go into effect. Until now, the selection of the editors has been delayed until after the election of class officers in March, with a resultant haste in publication which has often proved damaging.

The publication of the Red Book is one of the most valuable activities of the first year in College. The volume constitutes an enduring record of the class at a time when the sense of solidarity is strongest, and is deserving of the thoughtful care that sometimes is lost in the fever of editorial politics.

Chiefly by its extension of the time allotted to the process of preparation, the new step is all for the good of the Red Book. The uncertainly in the high places must remain, since first choices must still be made largely on preparatory school reputation. The gain will come in the selection of men for minor places on the Board through competitions made more just by prolongation. Editorial candidates may try their hands at a greater variety of topics than has been allowed them, and the business department will be freed from the breathlessness of lining up advertisements in a limited period. Another burden is taken from the Red Book Board this year by the decision of the Dean's Office to photograph every member of the entering class. These pictures will go into the Red Book in a body.

The date of publication will hardly be advanced, since much of the material is unobtainable until late spring, but the results of a more leisurely preparation should be evident in the volume on its appearance.