No Editorial Page

Several years have passed since the Bulletin last included an editorial page; today most controversies are waged through a "Letters" column. The present editor, Norman A. Hall '22, is not interested in making the Bulletin an opinionated periodical. He feels that the main purpose of the magazine is to "bring the news of the University and its alumni to the alumni as objectively as possible."

Today, Bulletin policy decisions are partially decided at an editorial luncheon held just after each bi-weekly issue is published.

At these luncheons, the editorial committee and the seven directors, the editor and the business manager, discuss the previous Bulletin and possibilities for coming ones.

Any policy decisions are extremely general; members of the group might suggest "have you heard about" or "what are you going to do about" a University, national, or past event. Bulletin editor Hall then goes back to his office and starts considering possibilities for the next issue.

Several groups of people participate in the activities of the Bulletin. The periodical is headed by a self-perpetuating board of twelve Incorporators, whose main function is to appoint a Board of Directors. The directors tend to take a much more active part in the Bulletin's activities; they choose the editor and the business manager, and regularly attend the editorial luncheons.

Editorial Committee

The magazine's Editorial Committee, which constitutes one of the main groups attending the bi-weekly luncheons, now includes two former editors of the Bulletin and the Secretary of the Corporation. The group is appointed by the president of the magazine.

Editor Hall, the assistant to the editor, Jane E. Howard, and the assistant's assistant, do most of the actual written work on the publication. The three plan the magazine's design, layout, articles, and columns. They spend hours before each publication date reading each line of print to correct all errors in the forty-eight page periodical.

The Bulletin's business staff, working under Business Manager Henry M. Mahon '23, spends the most of its time procuring advertisements. Hall says that they have little trouble filling the magazine's ad quota, even though a full-page advertisement can cost as much as $265. Revenue from the ads and subscription fees keep the organization self-supporting, and pay the salaries for the eight permanent staff members.

Wadsworth House

All eight people on the staff work in the L-shaped wing of Wadsworth House, a small, yellow, wooden building across from Lehman Hall in the Yard. Originally, the editorial staff was housed in the front of the Crimson building at 14 Plympton Street, and the business staff had an office at the Coop in the Square. (Women on the editorial staff have not forgotten the time members of the Lampoon let 300 mice loose in the Crimson and Bulletin offices. It took quite a while to clear them from the place.)

Later, the Coop asked the business staff to move out, since it needed more space, and the University, recognizing the Bulletin's plight, offered to house both staffs at 54 Dunster Street, now the site of the Student Activities Center. The periodical moved into its present location in 1954, when the University decided to establish the Activities Center.

Since the editors rebuilt the Bulletin in 1939-41, changing the format, design, and the color of its cover, the subscription list has risen rapidly. In October 1940, 6,700 copies were printed for each issue. At present, 16,500 of Harvard's 44,000 living alumni subscribe to the Bulletin, an average circulation increase of ten percent each year. Editor Hall adds that reader samplings indicate that each magazine is read by at least two graduates, and there is a good chance it is read by their wives.

The Alumni Bulletin is one of the few existing college alumni magazines that is published more than once each month and is still able to maintain a degree of excellence high enough to have won several prizes over the years