Noisy Era Ends at The Crimson

The whirring, clicking roar that has marked the composing room of The Crimson for most of its history ceased last night, and in its place was only an almost inaudible hum, the result of a switch in typesetting systems that should also speed up production and allow new flexibility in layout and design.

The Crimson installed the new equipment--two Mergenthaler Corp. CRTronics valued at $20,000 apiece--during winter break. They replace a decade-old Compugraphic system that read paper tapes and converted them into typeset galleys.

Built in West Germany, the new machines eliminate paper tapes and typeset directly from a display screen using a moving cathode ray tube.

Crimson shop foreman Patrick R. Sorrento supervised the installation of the units in the paper's newly renovated shop last week. The first test runs, conducted by Mergenthaler technician Frank Casey, took place on December 28, Mergenthaler engineers Joseph F. Killoran and Bob Johnson assisted Crimson editors in adapting the machinery for use by the paper.

The addition of the machines will allow The Crimson to use several new type styles and give its layout staff greater flexibility in type sizes and combinations. Since the new machinery sets at just under twice the speed of the Compugraphic equipment and allows for easier corrections of typographical errors, the new equipment should also speed up production of the paper and improve its appearance.

"It might make it earlier, and it might make it quieter, but it sure as hell won't make the paper any better," Sorrento, a 16-year veteran of the Crimson shop said yesterday.

Mergenthaler Redux

Mergenthaler, the manufacturer of the equipment, also made the linotype machines used by The Crimson until the late 1960s.

During the holiday break, the paper also successfully experimented with printing a full color picture on its presses.

Crimson pressman Brian M. Byrne produced the four-color photo, threading a single web of newsprint through all three units of the Goss Community Press in the basement of the paper's 14 Plympton St. building.