University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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bi viat. HE first volume of the Index was published in 1869. It was simply a thin pamphlet of twenty-eight pages, containing in a very compact form some of the more important facts of the college. Since that time its publication has become a marked feature of the Junior year. From the efforts of different classes to surpass their pre- decessors, the Index, indeed, has become an index of valua- ble information. Former editors have seemingly followed one beaten track ; and while we may adopt the general plan of all college productions of this kind, we shall, however, depart as far as possible from the idea of a borrowed model, and yet make the Index what a college publication should be. Heretofore the cuts have been= of wood and poorly desigrvid, but you will notice a costly artotype of the presi- dents of the college; also, one of ' 82 class fountain — the description of which is minutely given on another page — and many other cuts of equal importance, and carefully prepared. The past year has gone by very quietly. Under the lead- ership of Fres. Stockbridge things have progressed with anything but too much life. Some improvements have been made. — The buildings received a coat of paint during summer vacation, and tar walks were laid about the grounds ; but the college in general has not been kept up to that standard which should dignify a State institution. While we look at the way in which some things are managed, we do not wholly I