To the Editors of the Crimson:

At first glance it would appear that the criticism levelled against the 1943 Album Board for completely changing the traditional Faculty section, as charged in a letter in Monday's Crimson, is a fair and just one. When the reasons for the change are explained, however, we believe the vast majority of Juniors and Seniors will approve of the move.

The Faculty section has, until last year, invariably been a 20-page catalogue of professors and instructors. Most of the pictures have been out-of-date for some time, and frequently show professors as they looked in '02, not '42. Not only would it be a monumental task for the present Board to get new pictures taken, but the cost would range between $500 and $1000. The Faculty section has been the hardest to print; the pictures vary in size; the backgrounds are by no means uniform. We feel that to add the pictures of 350 professors and instructors to the 1800 Juniors and Seniors already included in the book will make it inflexibly dull.

We frankly believe that we have made a distinct improvement over the traditional format. We have substituted informal pictures of numerous professors in all fields. Furthermore, in order to get the articulation of the Faculty's attitude on the relation of their work to the war, we have asked three professors in the major areas of concentration to write articles for us. These articles, by Professors Matthiessen, Brinton, and Thimann, make extremely good reading. Combined with a group of excellent pictures of various professors, they make the Faculty section a lively and interesting one.

The idea that the Album has been created as art for art's sake is erroneous. We are trying to produce an organic and permanent record of Harvard at war. If we had returned to the traditional type of Album we would have foregone the opportunity to make the book a significant contribution in that direction.

Under our accelerated schedule, by which we hope to have the book out in mid-January, the Faculty section has already gone to press. We feel confident that, in final form, the section will justify the changes we have made. 1943 Harvard Album Committee.