Yearbook production can't attract student help in recent years

Hopkins' student yearbook has recorded some of the many changes that the University has experienced in its long history-physical changes to the Homewood campus, the coming and going of University Presidents, and the evolving makeup of the study body.

The yearbook has also undergone its own set of changes since its first edition was published in 1889. In early years it was called the Debutante, the Hopkins Medley, and the Hopkinsian, before students settled on the name Hullabaloo, after a popular school yell. Individual senior photos made their debut in 1893, and more photographs were included as the cost of printing decreased.

The yearbook, which had served as both a literary and journalistic outlet for students, shifted to become more of a general memento after the News-Letter's was founded in 1896. Creative writing reappeared in the 1960s,though, and since that time, the book has been a combination of both creative, visual, and informative content

In more recent years, the yearbook has encountered another change. While the 1999-2000 Hullabaloo won best of show at a National Press Association Conference in the fall of 2000, and the 272-page 2000-2001 edition boasted a staff list of approximately 20 students, during the past two years the book has been assembled by only one student, current sophomore Elise Lanio.

"It's a lot of work," Lanio said, "but it gets done."

Lanio became involved with yearbook production the summer before her freshman year at Hopkins when she and three other students, including two graduated seniors and yearbook advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Life Bill Smedick's daughter, were hired part-time to complete the 2001-2002 edition of Hullabaloo, a project that was a total of four months overdue.

The delay was due in part to the resignation of the yearbook editor in November of that school year due to illness, the dissolution of the yearbook staff, and a lack of students interested in stepping up to produce the book.

"The toughest part is getting volunteers," Smedick told the News-Letter in November 2002. "It just really depends from year to year."

Lanio, who will be leaving Hopkins next year to attend pharmacy school, has worked an average of 10 hours per week this year, preparing the yearbook's approximately 170 pages. The book is scheduled to be distributed to seniors over the summer so as to include spring events, particularly graduation. In the past a separate spring supplement was produced.

This edition of the Hullabaloo will include the standard senior section in color plus black and white pages showcasing sporting teams, campus events, and student groups. Josten's Publishing Company will include its own concluding section describing world events, politics, and pop culture.

While she notes that the end of the year is particularly hectic for production, Lanio has enjoyed her experience as yearbook editor. "At the end of the year, it all comes together," she said. "It's fun. It's overwhelming when you're by yourself. But I don't mind it"

The yearbook is produced in a small office in the Mattin Center and laid-out using Adobe Page Maker. Lanio obtains and compiles photographs for the book's various sections from sources including the Daily Jolt web site, the Recreation Center staff, student groups themselves, and Homewood Photography Services. "They cover so many events that you don't even know about," she said of the University's photography division.

DaVor Photographers, a company in Pennsylvania, spent two full weeks on campus over the course of this school year, taking senior photos in the Rec. Center. Lanio made fliers, sent e-mails to seniors, and mailed order forms home to their parents in hopes of publicizing the yearbook and encouraging students to be photographed in order to be included in it. About 500 seniors did so - about half the graduating class - in what Lanio considers a "pretty good turnout."

Senior Ariane Lewis, who has not seen past editions of the yearbook, was among the seniors photographed. She considers it sad that only half of her classmates will be in the book if she chooses to buy it. "The people who didn't get their pictures taken were probably just lazy," she notes - but admits that she has yet to order a copy of this year's Hullabaloo for the same reason.

Lewis does suggest, however, that the methods used to publicize the yearbook might have affected students' enthusiasm about the book. Because order forms were sent home to parents and not to students directly, many may not have been informed about the process. "I think if you asked a lot of people," she said, "they wouldn't even know it was for sale yet."

According to Lanio, about 300 yearbook orders have been received so far and additional order forms are available in Levering. This year's edition of Hullabaloo costs $60.

Senior Bethany Morehouse was not photographed, nor will she be purchasing a yearbook. "I'd rather have my own memories from personal experiences," she said. She has viewed past editions of the book and is disappointed with the quality of the publication. "I don't know anyone who's getting one," she said. "I don't think its representative of the undergraduate experience. Maybe if it had a variety of what I wanted to see, but I think it's pretty slim."

Lanio notes that there have been efforts to build up the yearbook staff and certainly feels that the yearbook is an important part of a Hopkins experience. "It will hold things you don't necessarily remember," she said.

With Lanio's departure from the University, it will be up to other students to reform the organization. "I guess people don't think about it," she said. "I know a lot of people did it in high school. Whoever wants to take the ball can go with it."