Council Postpones Final Action on Red Book Future

A Student Council decision on the fate of the Freshman Red Book, pending for almost eight months, seems headed for still further delay.

Opposition by Freshman Dean Leighton is one of the chief stumbling blocks to any move towards dropping the publication, Charles W. Detjen '50, chairman of the Council investigating committee, claimed Monday night. He quoted Dean Leighton as saying, "as long as I have anything to do with it, there will be a Freshman Red Book."

However, under the present setup, the Red Book is a Council project. Preliminary organization of the publication is done by the Council, which also loans the group enough money to begin work. Consequently, if the Council decides to drop the Red Book, it would be up to University Hall to back the project. Official backing of any undergraduate extra-curricular activity has been consistently vetoed in the past.

Chief complaint against the Red Book is that the annual merely duplicated material published in the Register, and eventually, in the Class Album.

Still another consideration is the deficit which the Red Book has piled up for many years. In the past, a Council loan has made both ends meet, but the amount must some day be refunded by the class.

Dean Leighton feels that the Boards don't work hard enough, Detjen explained. "The staff of the '51 Red Book was made up of all top men, who worked hard, but the book will still go into a hole--to the tune of the amount originally loaned by the Council," Detjen added.

Detjen suggested a new method which might enable the Red Book to obtain more advertisements, but he said that a full report would take considerable research and the rest of the term.

Since a decision must be made soon on whether the '52 Red Book will be published, the Council asked Detjen to determine by next week's meeting just how much investigation will be needed and how long it will take to reach a final recommendation on the question.