Tufts University - Jumbo Yearbook (Medford, MA)

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I realize that this is an unusual place for the traditional letter from the editor but because of the significance of this year’s book (and the fact that we had allocated two pages for the table of contents and we only needed one) I felt it appropriate to place it here. As you might have noticed, there have been a number of changes in the Jumbo Yearbook this year. Essentially this is where I, as editor-in-chief, explain why we made the changes we did. First of all understa nd that when I took this job I had never worked on a Tufts University Yearbook before (nor for that matter had any other member of the staff) and I had almost no knowledge of how to put together a yearbook, so the first thing I did as editor-in-chief was increase the number of pages to 440 (which just about doubled the size of the book). My rationale was simple: The only way to insure that an unqualified person like me never became editor-in-chief again was to get the underclassmen involved so there would always be someone who had worked on the book the year before, and the only way to get underclassmen involved was to put them in the book, (besides we could not hope to cover what Tufts has now in the same amount of pages that they used to cover Tufts in 1952). I also decided that Tufts needed a University yearbook not a senior class photo album simply because the yearbook is supposed to be the official record of the year’s events for posterity. Theoretically what should happen is every person connected with Tufts University should purchase a yearbook every year (except seniors who will always receive one free) so an undergraduate can remember his four years at Tufts with a four book set of yearbooks. As you look through the yearbook, realize that because we were so inexperienced we put a lot more work into the book than was necessary. Also realize that we started in late October (to give you an idea of how late that is, the 1984 yearbook is already under way). We had very very very imcompetent professional photographers (you probably have realized that by now) and a lot of other heart aches that didn’t help matters. Each section had its own peculiarities that you should be aware of as well. Academic section — we limited the faculty to full time voting members of the Arts and Sciences faculty according to the provost’s list (interestingly enough, no one has an accurate up to date list of the entire faculty). We think we got everyone but if not please inform the office so that can be rectified next year. The captions under the portraits have no hidden meaning, do not take offense at them . . . some are individual, some are continuous throughout a given page. The year in review section — The last deadline was in March so it’s really some of the year in review . . . (nothing happens in April or May anyway). Activities — Nothing happens in April or May except Spring Fling. We covered 1982. Athletics — We had some problems getting pictures simply because we started so late. We also asked each coach to submit information and received only a partial response. Organizations — There is no accurate list of recognized organizations and a number of organizations did not submit information or show up for their picture. I think you will be able to tell which ones are which. Realize though that we gave every opportunity to the organization leaders to have input, if they didn’t take this opportunity we did our best... it was actually a lot of fun. Residential Life — The staff decided to have running narration through this section. Some of the pages were stolen but it still came out all right. Underclassmen — Since we started so late we did this simply with candids in the hope that we’d cover as many students as possible — next year they’ll be underclassmen portraits. Seniors — The photographers did a number on us but I think everything turned out all right. There was no class historian so the history is not as objective as we would have liked but it is for the record the official history of the class of 1983 as opposed to the history of Tufts over the past four years . . . The biographical information under the names is just a matter of editorial preference so please let the staff know what you think about this. Also there is no accurate list of who is abroad or for that matter who is in the class. The index — There is no accurate list of people in the Tufts community ... it just doesn’t exist. Ads — Note the ads from the graduate schools just another step toward being a real university instead of a bunch of colleges. And of course the theme — what is more appropriate for Tufts University (the light on the hill) than the Twilight Zone? Well anyway, to the members of my class and the members of my University family I give to you, with all my love and affection, Tufts University 1983. KENNY BECK A83

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