Diminuendo

For the first time since 1918, a Crimson Board is faced with the problem of retrenching to meet the requirements of war. Adjustment was fore-shadowed last May, when financial conditions forced the reduction in the number of issues from six to five; a current alteration in the size of the Tuesday and Thursday editions was made necessary by increasing advertising problems and by the departure of many editors in the Enlisted Reserve. Before June, it doubtless will be necessary to announce a further retrenchment in our publication schedule.

But this adaptation is only an instance of the broader alterations taking place around it, for any undergraduate organization can only be a reflection of the College as a whole. The calling of the Enlisted Reserve Corps is only the first step in the transformation of Harvard to the role which it must occupy for the duration. Up to now, conversion to war has meant only the gradual relinquishing of University buildings and facilities to an ever-increasing stream of Army and Navy trainees. The undergraduate body has in the main been left intact, and with it the scope of undergraduate activities has not been curtailed. But by July the College will be only an island in the midst of a military encampment, a small voice that may need no mouthpiece.

But during the coming semester, while this transformation is taking place, we believe that the Crimson has a more important part to play than ever before. The exudation of blueprints is as vital to undergraduates as is their preparation: the next four months will see more sweeping changes than the last. We are faced with retrenchment and consolidation, but we can promise to publish so long as we are here and there is a College to be served.