Student says don't give up on yearbook just yet
Letter to the editor
Issue date: 2/16/09 Section: Opinion
After reading the article "ENMU students without yearbooks for 3 years", it became clear that another voice needed to be heard. Since a large part of the problem plaguing the Silverpack has been people not stepping up and getting it done, I want to break that pattern.
So, I would ask your indulgence as I speak for those of us working to change this situation. The broad strokes of the article are technically accurate, but there is much more to this story that should see the light of day.
The first thing that everyone should realize is that Dr. Donald Elder, Interim Chair of the Communicative Arts and Sciences Department, is taking more than his share of the responsibility, much more.
Elder's statement "I'll take total responsibility…" is technically correct of his position as department chair. However, Marc Anthony's historic falling on his sword in 30 B.C. after the failure in the naval battle at Actium and the enemy nearing Alexandria rival Dr. Elder's own words.
There were several people who put simply, as the editor in chief of the yearbook, should have got the job done. In similar fashion, the people helping them should have stepped in to take over or asked that someone take charge of the situation. There were simply a lot of people who could have seen this happening, but for whatever reason they did not.
It may sound like I am playing the blame game. I am not, I am simply saying that students had a responsibility to complete the job they said they would do or they should have said I could not do this and found someone to take over. The situation has given those that think the antiquated paper yearbook worth little more than a PDF file on a disk or be done away with altogether. This saddens me because the antiquated yearbook is a physical memory you can hold in your hand.
This issue can galvanize students in ways other than to get rid of something that is obsolete, and it has. Several students, myself included, have stepped up to take the responsibility. I see no reason that the 2007-08 Silverpack cannot be published.
So, I would ask your indulgence as I speak for those of us working to change this situation. The broad strokes of the article are technically accurate, but there is much more to this story that should see the light of day.
The first thing that everyone should realize is that Dr. Donald Elder, Interim Chair of the Communicative Arts and Sciences Department, is taking more than his share of the responsibility, much more.
Elder's statement "I'll take total responsibility…" is technically correct of his position as department chair. However, Marc Anthony's historic falling on his sword in 30 B.C. after the failure in the naval battle at Actium and the enemy nearing Alexandria rival Dr. Elder's own words.
There were several people who put simply, as the editor in chief of the yearbook, should have got the job done. In similar fashion, the people helping them should have stepped in to take over or asked that someone take charge of the situation. There were simply a lot of people who could have seen this happening, but for whatever reason they did not.
It may sound like I am playing the blame game. I am not, I am simply saying that students had a responsibility to complete the job they said they would do or they should have said I could not do this and found someone to take over. The situation has given those that think the antiquated paper yearbook worth little more than a PDF file on a disk or be done away with altogether. This saddens me because the antiquated yearbook is a physical memory you can hold in your hand.
This issue can galvanize students in ways other than to get rid of something that is obsolete, and it has. Several students, myself included, have stepped up to take the responsibility. I see no reason that the 2007-08 Silverpack cannot be published.